Winning is great, losing is not terrible. But in both, you ought to show some style and grace, and that’s something Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez has definitely lacked in the aftermath of the 5-3 loss to Arsenal in a friendly played in the United States last night.From stuck in LA traffic to overtaking Barca – Arsenal end their USA tour victoriousHeavy defeat against the Gunners affected the Spaniard, who showed anger on the pitch after the final whistle and, subsequently, fumed at the North Londoners at the press conference.”I told Mikel [Arteta] at the end of the game that it was a Champions League game. The intensity they put in was not normal for a friendly. For us it was only the first game, also after having a virus. It was really difficult for us,” Xavi explained.Xavi & Arteta 🤝 pic.twitter.com/d54L8Xgi2F— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) July 27, 2023 “Our intensity didn’t surprise me. Theirs did. So many tactical fouls… It’s not normal. Everyone wants to compete, but it’s friendly. They are at another level of intensity, physicality.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7390595##Unlike Xavi, Arteta didn’t use any harsh words in his response to those accusations but tried to explain it was not his intention to play the way Arsenal did.”From the very first tackle, it got really competitive on both sides for a friendly match. “Playing in front of 70,000 people creates an atmosphere and they are elite players who all want to win.”Mikel Arteta responds to Xavi’s comments that Arsenal’s intesity was too much for a friendly game 👀 pic.twitter.com/xMENXbdE6i— Ndubueze Prince Chiagoziem (@NdubuezePrince5) July 27, 2023 He admitted that some of the tackles were a little spicy for the level of the fixture but claimed it was out of his hands.”At the end, I think it got a bit too much for a friendly, but football belongs to the players and as soon as the game starts, they’ll rebel against the coaches and do what they want.””As soon as there’s the first foul of the game, they’ll start getting intense, but I think the show we put on for all the people who came to watch was really good,” concluded Arteta.
