FC Barcelona had a very frustrating evening in Hamburg on Tuesday, losing to Shakhtar Donetsk.
A victory would have allowed them to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but that was not the case.
In reality, the Barcelonans delivered a poor performance, failing to worry the Shakhtar defense. The Barcelona only had one shot on target in the match, on a Gavi header in the second half.
Coach Xavi Hernandez was furious when he spoke to the media after the match. He admitted that his team is not in a good place right now, and that things need to change before they can move forward.
“Nothing went as planned. This is a clear step backwards. We played one of the worst matches of the last two years, at the most inopportune time.
“We are in a bad situation. It’s a mental problem. We are blocked. We did things poorly in general. We didn’t apply pressure well and that’s affecting us. We need to control the details of the game and make the players feel good on the pitch. We must take a step forward. »
FC Barcelona will look to bounce back when they host Alaves in La Liga on Sunday, before playing their next Champions League match against Porto at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in three weeks.
