Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has heaped praises on French winger Ousmane Dembele for his performance in their hard-fought 1-0 win over Real Sociedad.
After the Copa del Rey quarter-final triumph, the 43-year-old commended the former Borussia Dortmund star for his unique qualities and raved about his team’s performance against a “tough opponent”.
“Dembele deserves all the credit. He has the right qualities, and we try to put him in positions where he can score or assist, and I think he is happy and in a great place, and he is one of the best in the world in his position,” he told reporters in the post match conference.
“We played good football against a team that hasn’t lost in nine straight games; we dominated them, and, in the end, we are where we want to be in January. We are top of the league; we are in the semifinals of the Copa Del Rey, and we already won a trophy, but we can always improve our effectiveness in finishing games.”
“That’s my feeling today. We always get saved by the goalkeeper [Ter Stegen] or a defender late in the match because we never kill the game,” Xavi added.
Dembele’s second-half strike was the difference as the Blaugrana defeated 10-man Sociedad at the Spotify Camp Nou to progress to the semifinals of the Copa Del Rey. He put Barcelona ahead in the 52nd minute after a barrage of missed chances by capitalising on a Jules Kounde pass on the right side before powering the ball past the goalkeeper.
Robert Lewandowski thought he had opened the scoring, but his goal was ruled offside after it touched Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong on its way to goal. Sociedad also came very close to registering the first goal, but Take Kubo’s powerful strike was repelled by the woodwork.
Before the halftime break, former Celta Vigo midfielder Brais Mendez was sent off for a rash tackle on Sergio Busquets after VAR upgraded the referee’s judgement from a yellow to a red card.
Adam Sorloth should have leveled proceedings for the visitors, but the big Norwegian could not find the target from a few yards out, while Robert Navarro failed to beat Ter Stegen one-on-one in a second half that had all the actions.
In the dying minutes of the game, the Barcelona goalkeeper made a stunning save to deny substitute Jon Ander Olasagasti as the Culers made the away team rue their missed chances.
