Estadio do Dragao, one of the most prestigious stadiums in the world, played host to the second Champions League group stage game of the 2023/24 season, which pitted Barcelona against Porto. Barcelona had the pleasure of traveling to Estadio do Dragao for the match.

The Portuguese team gave Barcelona a run for their money for the whole of the match, and by the time it was over, they had established themselves as the superior team.

It was fortunate for Barcelona that some poor refereeing, combined with one swift break from Ferran Torres, was enough to secure all three points with another 1-0 victory.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Xavi was quick to admit Barca’s lackluster performance from earlier today, saying, “The first half was fairly nice, but in the second half we suffered… We did not have our finest performance today.”

Although it was not our most successful match, it was an extremely important match for us. We prevailed, but we need to step up our game… We are going to do it, we are going to do it.

This competition is known as the Champions League. And the price is quite high. We triumphed away from home, against a long-standing adversary. That is something that has to be emphasized.

Xavi further added, “This is not an excuse, but we have some of our best players injured.” Frenkie de Jong and Pedri are both sidelined due to injuries, so Xavi’s statement is particularly pertinent.

During the game, Lamine Yamal was not seen for close to 10 minutes. During that time, Barcelona continued to play with ten players before bringing in Marcos Alonso to replace Yamal.

Xavi provided an explanation for the situation, saying, “He had been telling me for a long that Lamine Yamal has an ailment. I took advantage of a break to tell him to hurry up and get to the toiled, but in the end, he told me that he wouldn’t be able to get back to the pitch.”

The head coach also discussed the decision to replace Joao Felix during the second half despite the fact that he was one of the most talented players Barcelona had on the field.

“Joao Félix was taken out of the game because we needed more flexibility to move the ball, as well as because he was booked,” the announcer said. He’s good to go, there were no injuries, but I was worried that Gavi might get a red card, and sure enough, that’s what happened in the end.

Speaking of him, during the added minutes of stoppage time, the Spaniard was shown a second yellow card, which meant that Barcelona had to finish the match with ten players instead of eleven.

This year, Gavi has demonstrated a greater capacity for self-control. Nevertheless, Xavi added with complete confidence in the youngster that “he has matured quite a bit since I arrived.”

In addition, he lauded Barcelona’s back four for preserving yet another scoreless draw, which occurred during his 100th game in charge of the Catalan club’s team.

“Ter Stegen played an outstanding match and recorded another clean sheet. Excellent work was done by the entire defensive line, which included Araujo, Kounde, Balde, and Cancelo.

Then, Xavi singled out Ilkay Gundogan, who was presented with the man of the match award following the victory due to the fact that he assisted in the game’s winning goal.

On the field, we struggled to maintain our composure and patience, but Gundogan was able to help us achieve both of those things.

“Having Gundogan on the team is both a guarantee and a privilege,” the coach said. He is an excellent player who never gives the ball away. “He makes opportunities for us,” he went on to say.

In the end, Xavi came to a conclusion and stated, “Believe me, Barcelona is the most difficult club in the world.” You win by a score of 1-0, but we continue to look at things through a pessimistic lens… We triumph, and suddenly everything seems’small’.”