Xavi has insisted that Barcelona did not deserve to lose 1-0 to Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday but conceded the team started 2015 'on the wrong foot'.
La Blaugrana were presented with a glorious opportunity to close the gap on Real Madrid, who were defeated by Valencia earlier in the day, but Jordi Alba's second-minute own goal proved too much of a hurdle, and the midfielder was left to rue his side's result.
“The ball refused to go in, we started the match on the wrong foot and the goal condemned us [to the defeat],” he said to Canal+.
“I don’t think we deserved this result, but La Real were aggressive and we missed chances, some of which were very clear.
“Given that Madrid had lost, we would’ve overtaken them at the top, even if they had a game in hand.
“We’ve started the year on the wrong foot. The result does not reflect the party. We’ll accept the criticism and we’re screwed [as a result], but we won’t blame anything or anyone.
“Simply put, the ball didn’t want to go in.”
