Barcelona boss Xavi hails Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde as 'two best defenders in the world' after hard-fought Madrd win

Barcelona coach Xavi hailed Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde as ‘two of the best defenders in the world’ after they shut out Real Madrid and enabled his team to take a 1-0 lead into the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.

Barca struggled with possession percentages as low as 35 per cent at times but they kept another clean sheet largely thanks to their defenders.

Vinicius normally creates six or seven chances in a game and tonight he didn’t manage any,’ said Xavi. ‘We played against the reigning European Champions tonight and the players deserve a lot of credit.’

Barcelona were without their three top scorers Robert Lewandowski, Pedri, and Ousmane Dembele but it was the late loss of Andreas Christensen that looked like it might ruin their plans to stay in the tie at the Bernabeu ahead of the second leg in three week’s time.

‘For me Araujo is one of the best defenders in the world and so is Jules Kounde,’ said the Barca coach after his plan to move Araujo to right back to man-mark Vinicius worked to perfection. 

‘Marcos Alonso [standing in for Christensen] was also outstanding and so was [Alejandro] Balde.

‘I’m not satisfied with what we did with the ball but there are other aspects of the game that did make me happy. We defended very well.’

The Barca coach was still adamant that Real Madrid are the favourites adding: ‘the result doesn’t change much. It’s a small advantage but they are still very strong. I’m happy with the result tonight more than the style of our play. They didn’t have a clear chance until minute 89.’

The unexpected win was the perfect way for Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets to celebrate becoming the player who has played in more Clasicos than anyone else.

‘I’ve been lucky to play this competition for many years,’ he said.