Xavi: It was an incredible comeback... usually Barca don't win these games
Xavi Hernandez was euphoric with Barça's victory over Celta. It was a spectacular comeback," the coach began on Movistar's Movistar microphones. "We believed until the end. We played with faith and courage. My renewal would have been very affected with a 0-2 result, because of the points. There are very strong teams, like Girona, Madrid and today it was a victory of faith.
The coach acknowledged that the team lacked order and were far from the level of recent games. "It's not a day to boast. We were a bit disorganised and our movement wasn't like in the last few games. But the team showed courage and it was a brutal comeback, a comeback of faith. When you don't play well, you have to pull these things out".
Xavi acknowledged that some adjustments had left the team in a very tight defensive situation. "We were taking more and more risks, especially after the 0-2. We were left with just two centre-backs, with inside backs playing as pivots and wingers playing as midfielders... I thought I had to intervene. I thought I had to be interventionist. We played with a three-man defence and even ended up with a two-man defence, with Balde playing up front, we had to take risks and it worked out very well."
The coach gave some of the praise directly to Gavi. "Gavi can play everywhere, in all four positions in midfield. If I have to pin the comeback on someone, it's Gavi, but everyone had faith. The 0-2 scoreline was a blow and normally Barça don't come back from that, but today we showed unusual belief and a great winning character."
The coach also explained the position of Raphinha and Lamine. "The idea was that we could switch positions with Raphinha and Lamine. But we have to play better: it wasn't our best game".
On De Jong's injury, he was cautious: "Frenkie is not complaining. He is a self-sacrificing person. We have a lot of players to choose from and everyone will be important."
