Xavi satisfied with three golden points after less than impressive performance

Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez was on-hand to speak to the media after his side beat Levante 3-2 on Sunday night.

It was a tricky fixture for the Catalans, who struggled to exert any control on the match throughout and only troubled Levante greatly in the second half.

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Xavi recognised as much in his press conference.

“We didn’t play a great game, that much is evident, but we take three points worth their weight in gold with us. And some players made the difference, like ter Stegen or Luuk de Jong.”

“Winning it at the death leaves you satisfied, because it’s a question of mentality.”

Barcelona’s struggles were acknowledged by their manager and he attributed some of the cause to fatigue, explaining it had caught up to them in their matches against Levante and Eintracht Frankfurt.

His side very nearly could have gone behind in the first half after a brilliant Jose Luis Morales run. Were it not for Mar-Andre ter Stegen, the deficit would have been more.

Xavi also dismissed the idea that this was a simple fixture for his side, which they began with an almost full strength starting line-up.

“I leave very happy, because this was a match which had me nervous. Levante beat Villarreal, Atletico [Madrid] too, it wasn’t an easy match at all.”

“We weren’t precise and it wasn’t an excellent match, but we are in the habit of winning and have the mentality to win. We won’t always play brilliant football, it’s difficult to play against a team which is fighting for its life.”

After a 1-1 draw in Germany, Xavi and Barcelona will try to keep the winning habit on Thursday against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-finals.

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