Goals from Sadio Mane, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Benjamin Pavard saw Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 3-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Xavi believes Barcelona being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League prior to kick-off led to their insipid showing in a 3-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich.
Inter’s 4-0 win against Viktoria Plzeň on Wednesday meant Barca failed to progress from Group C, leading to a second relegation to the Europa League after the group stage.
A slow start from the Blaugrana saw them go 2-0 down after 31 minutes, with Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scoring before Benjamin Pavard netted a third in the second half.
After the loss, the Barca coach acknowledged his team had been outclassed, saying: “We didn’t compete today, we didn’t reach their level. [Bayern] were very good, much better, more intense.
“I’m sure getting knocked out before the game affected us mentally. I’m sure it did.”
It was the first time Barca had been knocked out of the Champions League group stage in back-to-back seasons since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns under Louis Van Gaal.
Xavi lamented being drawn into a tough group and appeared to suggest that he and the club would not necessarily consider their relegation a “failure”.
“We were drawn in a really tough group and everything happened to us in the Champions League,” he added. “It was very cruel but today we didn’t compete, other days we did but not today.
“I understand that from the outside they talk about failure, but from the inside we have a different analysis.
“It’s a cruel way to leave the competition, but when we analyze the other games I think we deserved more.”
