Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has confessed the crew had been “very fortunate” to flee Friday’s assembly with Sevilla with a victory.
Regardless of loads of possession and an enormous variety of pictures on objective, Barcelona had been as soon as once more wasteful within the last third and solely noticed the ball hit the again of the web when outdated foe Sergio Ramos deflected Lamine Yamal’s header past his personal goalkeeper.
Ter Stegen, who had a busy night in opposition to a struggling Sevilla facet, admitted Barcelona wanted a slice of fine fortune to get the win.
“We had possibilities within the first half,” he started. “Then fatigue got here into play and we gained with a really fortunate objective. We’re tremendous glad with the three factors.
“Now we have to struggle for every thing. We had to enhance defensively in comparison with the final video games. Very proud of the clear sheet and the ultimate end result. It has been seen that the crew is motivated and combating.”
Supervisor Xavi was eager to point out his respect for Ramos after the sport, insisting his outdated Clasico rival deserves credit score for even with the ability to play on the prime degree at 37.
“I have never seen him and I have never spoken to him. He’s a spectacular defender, he deserves plenty of credit score to be on the prime degree at his age,” Xavi stated. “He’s an expert.
“The objective is a disgrace for him, nevertheless it advantages us. That is life in soccer. He has plenty of benefit to be at his degree at his age. Sergio thrives in these environments. For the objective he goes to defend, it rebounds and goes in. It’s a misfortune for Sevilla and for him. He performed an excellent sport.”
Xavi admitted Sevilla made his facet undergo at instances however praised Barcelona for grinding out a end result in opposition to difficult opposition.
“We attacked effectively and we did what the sport required,” he continued. “The objective was lacking earlier than, which got here on the finish and an personal objective. We had been superb. Sevilla had been robust, however we dominated and created possibilities in order to not undergo a lot.
“In opposition to Celta we didn’t do effectively and we conceded rather a lot. In opposition to Mallorca we improved, however we did not win. We performed an excellent sport in opposition to a Champions League degree crew. They had been the champions of the Europa League. Now we have to proceed at this degree.”
