Xavi Hernández: “It’s difficult, but we can do it”

FOOTBALL

The midfielder admits that the team needed to compete harder in the second half at San Siro

But despite the 2-0 defeat, he is still optimistic about his team’s chances of qualifying for the quarter finals

He feels that if this generation is still lacking one thing, it’s “a historic, epic comeback”

“We weren’t able to make use of the spaces down the wing. Perhaps we should have tried shooting more from outside the area"

Xavi Hernández has described the general mood in the Barça camp after losing 2-0 at the San Siro on Wednesday night. “We knew it would be very difficult, but there are still 90 minutes to play at the Camp Nou and anything is possible. We can do it”, he said at his Thursday press conference. He also admitted that “we needed to compete harder in the second half … mistakes in Europe are costly”.

Self critical…

He went into more detail about the errors the side made in Milan. “We weren’t able to make use of the spaces down the wing. Perhaps we should have tried shooting more from outside the area … We needed to position ourselves better, to take more notice of the way their players were spread out and avoid fouls that could cause trouble to us in the air … We have to correct these mistakes and work out where we can cause damage to Milan”.

... but optimistic

But the FCB midfielder is still feeling optimistic about the return leg. “They keep things tight at the back very well and they’ll do that even more at the Camp Nou. But what this team that’s won so much in the last four of five years is still lacking is a historic, epic comeback, and that’s what we’ll be looking for … We’ll have the possession and the pitch will be properly wet. We won’t need three touches to control the ball like we did at San Siro. We’ll have chances, but we’ll have to watch out for counter attacks and avoid dead ball situations. We have to go out and fight for this”.