Sergio Busquets: Barcelona needed Espanyol win

Sergio Busquets admitted Barcelona needed to beat Espanyol on Saturday after the Catalan giants enjoyed a narrow 1-0 win over their local rivals.

Memphis Depay scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot to make it a winning start for Xavi as Barcelona boss.

However, Espanyol will feel aggrieved the penalty was given and will rue several missed chances after slipping to yet another defeat at the Camp Nou.

Busquets spoke about the result after the final whistle and felt it was important for Xavi to start life with victory on his return to the club.

“We needed this victory for the team to continue to grow and regain our confidence. We have a new coach, a new philosophy and we will find a way up,” he said.

“I think generally we played well. I think the scoreline is a bit tight. They had some great chances, any team can cause you problems but we needed the win. We need to believe, to regain confidence, little by little we will get better, with new ideas, a new philosophy, and we will find a way up.

“Right now we have a group of youngsters helping us. It’s really important to have this young blood, especially right now because of the financial situation and we can’t make many signings.”

Busquets was taken off late on in the game after seemingly picking up a knock but played down injury fears and said he hoped it was “nothing serious.”

Xavi’s men are back in action on Tuesday in a crucial game against Benfica in the Champions League.