Xavi rues gifted opportunities

Xavi rues gifted opportunities

Despite the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, Xavi was happy with the way his team played: “It was a great game and we can go away knowing we were vastly superior to Arsenal”.





After the game, Xavi highlighted how brilliantly his side had played. Especially in the first half: “We played well, we dominated. If only we could play like that all the time”, he said. But he also knows that you can’t take anything for granted in the Champions League: “Their first goal came from our own mistake. Watching the game, we should have sentenced the match”.



The following are some of the comments made after the match:



Ibrahimovic:



“They scored two late goals but it was a great result all the same”.



“We did all we could to win, but they scored”.



“That’s the Champions League, you have to play from the beginning to the end, until the referee blows for time. We have to take the second leg positively”.



“I am happy with the goals, but happier for the team. 2-2 is a good result and we still have the second leg at home”.



Henry:



“It was a strange game, we could have won easily and yet we only drew”.



“A draw is never a bad result in Europe”.



“I played here for eight years and that’s hard to forget, I have mixed feelings”.



Pedro:



“They put a lot of pressure on us and it wasn’t easy, and they scored two goals”.



“Walcott is a very fast and direct player, and he managed to score a goal”.



“2-2 is a good result but given the circumstances you come away with a bad taste in your mouth because we created chances and expected to win”.



Valdés:



“We had a good first half, we felt comfortable and created goal-scoring chances. But they scored twice in the second half, and things changed radically”.



“We are leaving with a bad taste in our mouths because we played well and deserved a better result”.



“Under other circumstances, they could have scored the opening goal. We have to take the best out of this and remember we still get to play the second leg at home”.



“Puyol and Piqué are big losses, but we have an excellent squad and the replacements will be able to cover for them”.



“We probably didn’t get the result we deserved but we are still going into the second leg in a strong position. But we felt quite comfortable with the way they put pressure on us and I think we’ll be able to play some good football at home, although that remains to be seen”.



Alves:



“We deserved to win. We want to carry on in this competition. We played a great game against a great team”.



“We had a great first half, but in the second we couldn’t generate the same chances. We’ve got a bittersweet feeling about the result”.



“They came out strong in the second half, they created a lot of pressure, but we were up to them.



“The penalty was too much, but the result is still a good one”.



“Although they were at home, we played well and we deserved more than what we got”



Sergio Busquets:



“That was probably our best game of the season”.



“This team has plenty of quality”.