The newly appointed manager suffered his first defeat as the Barcelona boss on Saturday.
Real Betis defeated Barcelona 1-0 in their La Liga game on Saturday. This was Xavi Hernandez’s first defeat which came in his fourth game in charge.
The Catalans were dominant throughout the game but lacked enough composure in front of the goal. Betis made sure to punish the hosts as they scored the winner in the 79th minute.
In a post-match interview, Xavi praised his team for their performance despite the home defeat.
“It is a shame because we did not deserve to lose,” he told a media conference. “We did not have the luck we had against Villarreal today.
“We cannot allow a goal like the one we have conceded but it is a shame to have lost because we deserved to win.
“I think the fans will be proud of the team. We played a very good second half and Betis’ goal came when we were at our best.”
The Barcelona boss added: “Sometimes you have to know how to make tactical fouls and prevent the opponent playing and we did not do that.
“Their goal bothers me a lot because a situation like this cannot happen to us.
“I have told the players that this is football and that I am proud of them. They have given everything and if anyone deserved to win the game it was Barca.”
Barcelona slipped to seventh place on the league table as they suffered their sixth home defeat of the campaign. The Catalans will now prepare to face Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in a vital Champions League battle.
“On Wednesday we will have to compete like animals in Munich because we are at risk of not making into the last 16,” he said.
“But we depend on ourselves. It’s easy; if we win we’re in the round of 16 and if Benfica don’t win we’re through.
“We’ll go with everything and play like we did in the second half today. We will see how far that takes us.”
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