Xavi avoids repeat of Ansu Fati strop as Barcelona secure European consolation

Ansu Fati played the full 90 minutes as Barcelona ended their poor Champions League campaign on a high - just three days after he threw a strop at being substituted by Xavi.

The Catalan giants defeated Viktoria Plzen 4-2 on Tuesday night to finish third in Group C, having already dropped down to the Europa League. Marcos Alonso and Pablo Torre scored either side of a Ferran Torres double, while Tomas Chory scored both goals for the hosts.

Fati, the 20-year-old prodigy who wears the No.10 shirt previously graced by Lionel Messi, was handed a run-out at centre-forward and played the entire match. Although the Spaniard was unable build on his tally of three goals for the season, he will have been pleased not to have been taken off by his manager.

That is because he was seen throwing a minor tantrum after Xavi chose to substitute him in the second half of Saturday's La Liga contest against Valencia. Fati was withdrawn for Raphinha in the 57th minute and tossed a bib to the ground before talking to teammate Eric Garcia on the bench in an animated fashion while motioning towards the pitch.

As it happened, Xavi's substitution proved crucial as it was Raphinha who set up Robert Lewandowski's added-time winner to close the gap to Real Madrid at the top of the table to just one point. Despite his outburst, Fati kept his place in the side to face Viktoria Plzen and there was no such strop in midweek.

Barca picked up their second group-stage win but will compete in the Europa League when the knockout stage begins, with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan progressing to the Champions League last 16. Defensive frailties were once again exposed in the Blaugrana's victory and Xavi was far from impressed by what he saw from a backline including experienced hands such as Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba.

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"In the first half, we were good, but we suffered a lot. We made unnecessary fouls. They are very intense. They created more chances than usual," the legendary former midfielder said. " They defended well, they played with direct balls. We suffered from corners and in the fouls.

"We knew they were a difficult opponent. It was a long-suffering game. I liked the team in attack, we went into space. But I didn't like that we conceded a lot in defence, we weren't good."

Barcelona will discover their Europa League opponents in next week's draw and, in the meantime, must turn their attention back to domestic duties. The Camp Nou club host Almeria on Saturday before a midweek clash against Osasuna, with the World Cup break looming.

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