Xavi: We lost the game but we haven’t lost the tie

Al-Sadd head coach Xavi Hernandez remarked that his side were still in the chase for progression to the next round, after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Al-Nassr in the first leg of their AFC Champions League quarterfinal.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Xavi said: “We did not control the ball in the required manner. We did not have posssession and I am not happy at all with the performance.”

“In the second half, the two teams matched each other. We managed to impose ourselves on the game but when we did that, we conceded the second goal and this affected us a lot.”

He added: “The second leg in Doha will be a lot different. We must prepare for it well to maintain our chances of progressing to the semifinals.”

Asked for the reason for the defeat, Xavi said: “The reason is that Al-Nassr are a strong team and we were not up to the task. We did not play good football, like we did recently.”

“We lost (this game) but we haven’t lost out on progression or on the title. I spoke with the players about that in the dressing room, that there is another match to play in Doha and we have a chance to qualify and that we must fight until the last moment.”

Finally, the coach said: “We did not put up a good display in the first half but things were fine in the second half. We tried the best we could.”