Xavi Hernàndez was a happy man on Tuesday in his press conference at the Ciutat Esportiva. And with good reason, considering the part he played in the amazing 5-0 win over Real Madrid on Monday night. A result the player feels that all “should enjoy“.

FC Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi admitted that he’d had trouble sleeping the previous night. It is not every day you can score five goals against Real Madrid and the euphoria of the team was evident. Given this historic win, Xavi, a player who has carried the blaugrana DNA from a very young age, was not able to hide his joy. And not only joy within the team, but also for the fans: “I’m delighted to have made the Barça family happy.”

With the same sentiments expressed by Guardiola after the match, Xavi Hernandez was also proud to have won the way they did: “We had a superiority over the field from the first until the last minute … It was a historic result, but especially because of such superiority.”

Everyone still remembers the 2-6 from two seasons ago at the Bernabeu. Inevitably comparisons have been made, but Xavi noted that ”although the result is practically the same, we played even better last night. It was one of the best games of my life. There are games where we played well, but maybe not in a game of this importance.”

“In the days leading up to the match, we tried to make it clear that the team did not want to hear the noise being generated around the game, we just wanted to respond on the pitch. Barça were vastly superior. At all levels, all facets, we were better,” said Xavi. But he didn’t believe that the team had a point to prove: “A great team is always eager to compete and to continue facing [new] challenges.” 

Xavi agreed that it was “a big blow for Madrid. Much is expected of them and now we’ll have to see how they recover.” In turn, for his own team, he acknowledged that the win ”had the opposite effect. It was a huge boost for morale.”