Ferran, Roberto come to Xavi’s defence after Royal Antwerp 3-2 Barcelona: “We are with him” | OneFootball

It was yet another forgettable night for FC Barcelona on Wednesday as they succumbed to a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Royal Antwerp in their final UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture in Belgium.

With qualification for the Round of 16 and top spot in the group secured, Barça did not have a lot at stake, but there was still the matter of recovering pride and confidence after losing to Girona over the weekend.

But, Antwerp were the better team on the night, scoring a minute into the game before Ferran Torres equalised. Vincent Janssen doubled the hosts’ lead in the second half but substitute Marc Guiu netted in stoppage time on his UCL debut, seemingly salvaging a point.

It was not to be though as Barça conceded a third seconds later, with Royal Antwerp pulling off the upset of the season.

Ferran Torres stands with Xavi

Given the shock defeat and the dire performance, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez finds himself in the line of fire. But, forward Ferran Torres came to the tactician’s defence after the game, as he said (h/t Mundo Deportivo):

“We are very united, we are with the coach to the maximum.”

However, he admitted that there was a lot of work to be done for the team, saying: “We have to correct things, we know that, but these are dynamics that occur throughout the seasons and we have to turn them around and we will do it.”

The Spanish forward then went on to state that while they are disappointed, the team will not let external pressure affect them, as he said:

“We are the first to be disappointed, but we have to focus on the league. We know the external noise at Barça, that they are trying to destroy us, but we have to live with it.”

Sergi Roberto angry after loss

A day to forget for Barcelona. (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)

Barcelona first captain Sergi Roberto got a rare start in the middle of the park last night, but was unable to inspire his team to a win.

The versatile star admitted that he and the team were angry and hurt at how things went down, saying (h/t Mundo Deportivo): “We’re going home angry, even though we’ve qualified. We always want to win and we haven’t, but it’s time for the league again and we can’t drop any more points.”

Summarising the events of the night, Roberto added: “In the first minute they scored against us and it’s a pity to start like that because it leaves you feeling bruised coming off the back of losing to Girona.

“It’s a shame to start like that because you’ve just lost to Girona and it’s a shame to start like that. Then at the end Marc scored to make it 2-2 and it looked like we were going to go in with a draw, but then came the 3-2.”

However, Roberto denied that Barcelona were in a state of crisis, saying: “Before Girona we played some very good games and against Girona anything could have happened, I think we were in a good dynamic and today we wanted to get a good feeling, but it wasn’t like that.”

On whether he agrees with Xavi’s assessment that Barcelona are a team still ‘under construction’, Roberto said: “I agree with what the coach says, we are united and although we are under construction what we want is to win, the good results will come.”

The Barça skipper also showed his support to Oriol Romeu, who endured arguably his worst performance this season, saying:

“We all leave upset about the result, we are a family and in difficult moments is when we have to be together the most.”