"It's my fault that we did not play well" - Xavi takes responsibility for Barcelona's poor performance despite 3-2 win

Xavi Hernandez was not entirely pleased by Barcelona's display in their 3-2 La Liga win against Celta Vigo on Saturday (September 23).

The Blaugrana fell behind in the 19th minute after Jules Kounde committed himself to a challenge and left Jorgen Strand Larsen in acres of space to score the opener. The visitors then grabbed the second goal in the 76th minute, silencing the home fans.

Barca were caught on the counter-attack as substitute Anastasios Douvikas doubled his team's lead. With their backs against the ball, Barca pulled off a memorable comeback in the last 10 minutes.

Joao Felix's sublime chipped pass was lobbed into the net by Robert Lewandowski in the 81st minute. The Polish hitman was on target once again when he converted Joao Cancelo's cut-back four minutes later.

With the clock about to hit the 90-minute mark, Gavi produced a wonderful cross to find Joao Cancelo in the box, whose adventurous run paid off. Xavi, though, took the blame for Barca's poor display for large parts of the game.

The Spanish tactician told reporters (h/t @BarcaUniversal):

"I don't think I can brag today. We ended up winning by taking massive risks in attack, but we easily could have lost too. It's my fault that we did not play well."

Having fallen behind early at home, it was expected that Barca would dominate possession at home in search of a goal. That they did, keeping 74% of the ball and recording 739 accurate passes with a 91% accuracy compared to Celta's 202 passes and 74% success rate.

However, Los Celestes managed only seven shots on target compared to Barca's six and their xG of 1.56 was close to Barca's xG of 1.58.

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Barcelona still unbeaten this season after win against Celta Vigo

Barcelona have been on a dominant run under Xavi this season. They're unbeaten in seven games they've played across competitions, winning six.

They sit atop the league table with 16 points from six games. Real Madrid have 15 points and have played one game less. Barca were also dominant in their UEFA Champions League opener earlier this week, beating Royal Antwerp 5-0 at home.

They have scored 21 goals during this period and kept four clean sheets. Barca won La Liga last season, and while they would want to defend their title, the focus will be on Europe, too.

Barcelona, who enter every Champions League season as one of the favorites, have been eliminated in the group stage in the last two editions.