Barcelona midfielder Xavi does not believe his side deserved to see
the defence of their Copa del Rey title come to an end at the hands
of Sevilla on Wednesday night.
Barca, whose cup success last year was the first of a
record-breaking six trophies in 2009, were knocked out at the
last-16 stage on the away goals rule despite winning Wednesday
evening's second leg at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan 1-0.
Following a goalless first half, Barca laid siege to the
Sevilla goal after the break but a mixture of indifferent
finishing, the woodwork and a brilliant display by home goalkeeper
Andres Palop meant they could only find the breakthrough once.
Xavi, who scored that solitary goal in the 64th minute, was
quoted in AS saying: "I'm angry, we deserved to go through.
"It doesn't serve anything to have played well (and still be
knocked out). We've lacked a goal and we are out, that's the
reality.
"We've shown that we wanted to win the game and the tie.
We've given a good impression of ourselves and shown ourselves to
be better than Sevilla, but we are eliminated."
Coach Pep Guardiola, who had won every competition since
taking charge in the summer of 2008, added: "We had a good second
half, we've been ourselves, but it wasn't enough. We've been
knocked out being faithful to our style. We must bounce back in the
future.
"It hurts us to be out of this competition. It's not good
news even though people will say that we can now focus on the
league and Champions League.
"In sport we are not taught to lose and this has affected us.
As I said the other day, we aren't invincible."
Barca president Joan Laporta said: "Today I feel more proud
of my team than ever. The players remained faithful to our style
and we gave a very good image of ourselves.
"We need to congratulate Sevilla for their victory in the
tie. We had our chances, but we wish the best for Sevilla.
"The tie was not decided today, it was lost over 180 minutes.
We were superior here, but we lost at home."
