FC Barcelona star Gavi was critical of teammate Jules Kounde after a blunder from the Frenchman … [+] played its part in the Catalans collapsing at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
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FC Barcelona star Gavi was critical of teammate Jules Kounde after a blunder from the Frenchman played its part in the Catalans collapsing at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
All seemed to be going well in Balaidos, with Barca leading 2-0 heading into the last 10 minutes.
In quick succession, however, three key incidents turned out to be the undoing of a furious Hansi Flick and his men starting with Marc Casado’s careless dismissal for a second yellow card.
A Kounde blunder allowed Celta to score a consolation, before Hugo Alvarez equalized with four minutes to spare and stole a point for the hosts.
Flick criticized his players following the full time whistle, and a demanding Gavi also didn’t hold back in his own post-match interview with local broadcaster DAZN Espana.
“We had the game under control, but the sending off affected us a lot. They scored against us on two specific plays and we have to learn from that,” Gavi demanded.
“The first goal was silly, you have to clear it there,” the midfielder added, in a criticism of Kounde. “But well, it’s football and you have to learn from this and with one less [player] it’s difficult. We did what we could.”
Gavi pointed out that Barca can suffer against any team if it slips off in concentration, not just Celta.
“If you’re not focused, what happens happens, you’ve seen it,” he said.
And while he was “happy with the start” after a year away from the game because of an ACL injury, the milestone was bittersweet for the former Golden Boy winner.
“The important thing today was the three points and it wasn’t to be,” he lamented.
Yet Kounde deserves credit for not hiding and holding his hands up, also to DAZN.
“We didn’t score what was required throughout the game and in the end they punished us, starting with me. I didn’t play a good game from the start and I made a mistake. I accept that mistake put us in a difficult situation. That mistake hurt us,” Kounde admitted.
Like Gavi, he similarly highlighted a “lack of concentration at the end”.
“Although I saw clearly that the ball was gone, I have to continue … We don’t have to sink either, it’s a game, we lose two points. We were 0-2 up at a difficult ground,” Kounde said, though accepting that “we tied the game partly because of me”.
“When things go well it’s very easy, but now is when the character of the team is shown and that’s when we have to be united,” Kounde demanded, with home Champions League and La Liga games against Brest and Las Palmas up next.
