Xavi: Barça deserved much more

Barcelona midfielder Xavi felt his side "deserved much more" than to draw the first Clásico of the league season 2-2 with Real Madrid last night. Barça trailed to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal before a brace from Lionel Messi nudged them ahead only for Ronaldo to net an equaliser which meant the Catalans' advantage over their arch-rivals remained at eight points. Tito Vilanova's men dominated possession at the Camp Nou but failed to capitalise with Madrid looking dangerous on the break. Xavi was pleased with Barça's overall display and felt they were worthy of the three points. He told the club's official website: "We're in a good moment right now, we played a great game. We deserved much more but we always want more when we face our arch-rivals. The eight-point difference allows us to take on future challenges with tranquility." Messi's second goal was a wonderfully executed free-kick and moved him within one goal of the Clásico record of 18 set by Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano. The Argentina star said: "We're not having too much luck with injuries and were missing some important players today, but we're lucky enough to have really good players on this team and they all do an excellent job. It was a great game, we would have preferred to win but we need to remember that Real Madrid are a great team." Real defender Pepe saw the game differently, believing that Real were the most positive of the two sides. He said: "We drew at a difficult ground but we could have won. We were the team who tried hardest to win the match. We went out there with the feeling that we could take all three points. When we scored at the beginning the game was ours. Then in the second half we started off better than them but it was not to be." Real boss Jose Mourinho described Messi and Ronaldo as "being from another planet" and Pepe was full of praise for his countryman. "Cristiano Ronaldo was incredible," he added. "He played very well for the whole match. For me and the Madrid supporters he is the best player in the world, he is a very complete footballer." FIFA