Barcelona on Wednesday night slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the Camp Nou on matchday 5 of the Champions League group stage.
According to Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez, being eliminated before the match against Bayern was part of the reason for the 0-3 defeat in the final round of Group C of the Champions League.
“The team was affected by the elimination. But it’s not an excuse, we just didn’t compete. It is a tough blow, but we have to keep believing in this team.” Xavi said.
“We weren’t at [Bayern’s] level tonight, they were better. Simple as that. The elimation affected us psychologically. Now we have to keep going and think about the league.
“We had a lot of expectations. We knew the group was complicated, but a lot of things happened to us and tonight we didn’t compete.”
“We weren’t at their level. We were better in Munich and this time they were better than us. We have to react.” Xavi added.
Barcelona was eliminated before entering the match because Inter crushed Plzen 4-0 two hours earlier to reach 10 points.
The Blaugrana has only four points and a poor head-to-head record, whereas Bayern won tickets to the last 16 round in the previous round.
Xavi’s side conceded two goals from Sadio Mane’s shots in the 10th minute and Choupo-Moting in the 31st minute. Defender Benjamin Pavard sealed a 3-0 win for Bavaria in 90+5 minutes.
This is Xavi’s third defeat as a coach against Bayern. Barcelona had lost 0-3 in the second leg of the group stage last season and 0-2 in the first leg of the group stage this season.
However, Xavi thinks the way to be eliminated is completely different. Barca this season plays more actively, can decide their own fate, but loses the opportunity due to mistakes.
Xavi also said that the fact that Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla were eliminated in the Champions League group stage is not a sign that La Liga representatives are going down.
