Xavi Hernandez calms Barcelona injury fears after key player forced off during Alaves victory – “It’s nothing” | OneFootball

Barcelona made it five wins out of six in La Liga when they defeated Alaves 3-1 on Saturday evening. It is a result that sees the Catalan giants move up to third in the table, ahead of Atletico Madrid.

Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Vitor Roque got the goals for Barcelona, and there were several impressive showings, with one notably being Andreas Christensen’s. The Danish defender played as an auxiliary pivot, and he impressed in the role. Head coach Xavi Hernandez explained the reasoning behind the decision when he spoke to the media post-match, as per Marca.

“Christensen as a pivot has gone well. We were very good with the ball. He was comfortable, he didn’t lose the ball, he was aggressive. That gives us more order. It was a game to avoid transitions and today Andreas gave us that. He’s very competitive, he’s always on the lookout, he’s a defender, but with his technical ability, he can play in midfield.”

Xavi also calmed any fears Barcelona fans may have over injury concerns that occurred during the match in Vitoria. Ilkay Gundogan was forced off in the second half, while Pedri also looked to have picked up a knock before he was substituted late on.

“There is no injury to Gundogan or Pedri. Gundo is a blow to the back that didn’t let him run comfortably. I’ve taken Pedri off because he was tired.”

Barcelona have won their two matches since Xavi announced his decision to step down at the end of the season. They will hope to continue that run going forward, starting with next weekend’s fixture against Granada at Montjuic.