Barcelona head coach Xavi has described his side’s 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid in Wednesday’s Copa Del Rey second leg semi-final at the Camp Nou as a tough pill to swallow.
A hat-trick from Karim Benzema and a solitary strike from Vinicius Junior, saw Madrid progress to the final 4-1 on aggregate.
Madrid will now take on Osasuna in this season’s Copa Del Rey final.
And reacting to the disappointing loss to their bitter rivals, Xavi posited that his players gave a good account of themselves.
“Tonight is a tough pill to swallow and it hurts all of us as Culers. Now we need to react and move on, we have a league to win. We competed a lot better than the result says, it’s exaggerated,” Mundo Deportivo quoted Xavi.
“In the first half we did very well, but in a counter-attack Madrid took advantage and scored the first. But it was really the 2-0 that killed us. It’s a shame but we have to be self-critical, it was a bad second half.
“I’m not making excuses. I believe we played very well in both legs. I’d already said Madrid were the favorites.”
Barcelona will now turn their attention to the league where they hold a healthy lead over Madrid.
