"Too many fouls for a friendly" - Xavi slams Arsenal's Champions League-match-like intensity during Barcelona clash
Barcelona played Arsenal on Wednesday (July 26) as part of their pre-season preparations in the USA. The Gunners emerged victorious as they beat the La Liga side 5-3. However, the Catalan club's manager Xavi was least pleased by the nature of tackles coming from the Gunners' players.
Arsenal conceded 22 fouls in the entirety of the game, which was fiery, to say the least. Addressing the Premeir League outfit's approach to the game, Xavi said (via Barce Universal):
"I understand that everyone wants to win, but I told Arteta that it looked like a Champions League match. The intensity that they put was too high."
He added:
"The intensity that Arsenal put was not normal. Too much fouls for a friendly."
The north London side had to come back on two occasions before eventually taking the lead in the second half. Bukayo Saka levelled the scoring after Robert Lewandowski's early opener.
Soon after, Raphinha scored from a dead ball situation but saw his goal cancelled out by Kai Havertz at the other end. Leandro Trossard scored twice in the second half and took the game out of Barcelona's reach.
After Ferran Torres' 88th-minute goal which halved the Gunners' lead, Fabio Vieira scored to restore the two-goal cushion.
Mikel Arteta's men will now head back to London for the Emirates Cup, while the Spanish club will face Real Madrid in their next pre-season friendly.
Mikel Arteta agrees with Xavi as Arsenal Barcelona friendly produces heated clash
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was in agreement with Xavi over the heated nature of their latest pre-season clash. Barcelona ended up losing the tie 5-3. However, the Catalan club manager, Xavi, found the Gunners' approach to the game a little too intense.
When asked about the physical nature of the game during the post-match press conference, Arteta said (via Football London):
"It got really competitive for a friendly match. It got that way after the first tackle, the first goal. Playing in front of 70000 people helps create an atmosphere. They are elite players and they all want to win. But at the end, I think it got a bit too much for a friendly, but I think the show that we put in for all the people that came to watch was really good."
The north London outfit will now return to the Emirates to take on AS Monaco, which will complete the club's pre-season fixtures.