‘We had a hangover from El Clásico’ – Xavi

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez says his side struggled against Real Sociedad due to having a hangover from their league defeat to Real Madrid.

The Catalan side sealed a late win at the Reale Arena with Ronald Araujo scoring the only goal of the game.

Barcelona were on the back foot for the majority part of the game and were restricted to just one shot on target in the first 80 minutes of action. They were also found wanting in possession on several occasions with Sociedad piling pressure.

Speaking after the game, Xavi attributed his team’s performance to losing to their bitter rivals last weekend at home.

“The first 25 minutes were unacceptable,” the Barcelona boss said in his post-game news conference. “It’s the opposite to last week, when we played well and deserved to win but lost. Today is a day to be really self-critical.

“La Real are a great side and they showed more intensity than us. We were not at all comfortable. We had a hangover from El Clásico. We were more affected by that result than I thought.”

The win over Sociedad moves Barcelona into third position on the league table.