Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said Wednesday's crushing 4-0 Copa del Rey semifinal defeat to Real Madrid is difficult to digest but insists it will not stain a potential LaLiga title.
A second half hat-trick from Karim Benzema and a Vinicius Junior goal helped Madrid overturn a 1-0 first leg defeat to set up a final against Osasuna in May.
The loss ended a run of three straight Clasico wins for Barca, the first of which came in the Spanish Super Cup final and the most recent allowed the Catalan side to open up a 12-point lead at the top of the table.
"It's difficult to digest," Xavi conceded in a news conference after seeing his side fall apart in the second half at Spotify Camp Nou. "We were doing well, but we lost order after the second goal, maybe [it was down to] maturity, we have a lot of very young players. Madrid have these things. Without playing well, they have the lead at the break.
