Xavi: Happy with the result but not the performance

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez expressed his happiness after his side’s 2-1 win over Umm Salal, while admitting that the performance was below their best.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “I am very happy with this win. We played against a strong team. I am pleased with the result, but not the performance. It is natural for the players’ levels to drop after the Champions League game.”

He added: “We faced a strong team that played on the counter, which made us struggle but we managed to get back into the game. We got the three points and we now need to keep working hard.”

“Despite not performing at our best in this game, we were better than Umm Salal. I had confidence in my players’ ability to clinch the result and that is what happened.”

“We know that we have to play many games in this period. We will try to deal with this pressure in the suitable manner. I trust the players. They have the experience to deal with this.”

Finally, he said: “Al-Sadd have enough players who can play these games in the required manner. We have a tough game coming up against Al-Sailiya. It won’t be any less difficult than the Umm Salal game. But I know that Al-Sadd has the mentality to cope with these games.”