Barcelona coach Xavi was left upset with the criticism of their Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg win at Real Madrid.
Xavi hit back at critics and stressed that beating a team as strong as Real Madrid is anything but an easy task.
"Barcelona is the most difficult club in the world, you beat Real Madrid 1-0 and it's not convincing and if it's the other way around it's a national holiday," Xavi told the press conference ahead of Sunday's game against Valencia.
"I said it last year and they gave me a hard time. At Barcelona you have to win and convince, and that's our goal. But the opponents are the LaLiga Santander and Champions League reigning champions, and if they press you high it is difficult.
"It's a question of understanding football. To talk about possession when they play you one-on-one is absurd. We didn't set up in the area to be in a low block, Real Madrid put us [in this situation]. This is football."
Xavi went on to analyze the derby and admitted that Barcelona failed to follow their game-plan due to Real Madrid's pressure.
"From the inside, we make an analysis in which Real Madrid pressed us to impose their game on us," Xavi added.
"We want long possessions and we didn't get it. There are times when matches against big opponents can subdue you.
"We look for possession of 60, 70 and 80 minutes. But the opponents also play and can dominate you. We also play defensively without the ball, and we were extraordinary, but it is not what we want. We want to create with the ball, as we did on the day of the Supercopa de Espana."
