Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said his side were lucky to escape with a narrow 1-0 win from their La Liga clash against Granada on Tuesday.
Xavi, who made his 392nd league appearance to break a club record, decided the game with a terrific free kick against the hosts, who would have Jaime and Dani Benitez dismissed in the second half.
“We were lucky to have won,” Guardiola told Sport.es. “Anything could have happened at 1-0 as they have dangerous players.”
“We were not fast enough in moving the ball around. We would take four or five touches before playing it on; we are usually strong at this.”
“In any case I felt we were in command of the game.”
However, Argentine defender Javier Mascherano believes his side were deserving of victory.
“I think the team has taken three deserved points,” Mascherano said.
“We knew Granada would be a difficult rival, but we had chances and we were able to finish.”
“The win was deserved and what is important is that we were able to create plenty of openings.”
The victory took Barcelona back to the top of the table, but the Catalans can be knocked off the summit if Real Madrid or Levante win on Wednesday.
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