Barcelona manager Xavi has apologized to fans after his team suffered a 4-1 defeat against Real Madrid in Sunday’s Supercopa de Espana final.
Vinicius Junior’s first-half hat-trick powered Real Madrid to a dominant victory, exposing Barcelona’s defensive vulnerabilities. Xavi, who had expressed confidence before the match, acknowledged the disappointing outcome and admitted that things could hardly have gone worse.
“We had a lot of hope and enthusiasm but we got the worst game of all,” Xavi said. “We started very badly, we were able to grab one back but the goal for 3-1 made things difficult for us.
“Madrid did a lot of damage to us on the counter, we have not stopped those counters, those transitions, and now we have to live the bitter side of football. I apologise to the fans because it has been difficult for us to compete, but I have experienced many defeats in my career and in the end we recovered. Barca will return. It will return.”
Pressed on the defeat in his press conference, Xavi added, “It’s a tough defeat, we’re angry. We have played one of the worst games of the season. We have to improve a lot to win titles. We must apologise to the Barcelona fans. This is not the image of Barca in a final and even less so against Madrid.”
Xavi insisted Barcelona learn from the crushing defeat so as to ensure they never experience such a loss again.
“May it help us to compete better,” he said. “There will be hard days now with plenty of criticism, and we have to accept it, we have not been at the level that the final required.
“I am disappointed and angry, both as a cule and a coach. It was not the image of a final. It’s a tough loss but there’s a lot of the season left. We have to compete for three titles. It’s a hard blow for the club and the players but we will return.”