Barca was perfect before Alves was sent off - Xavi

Xavi

believes that

’s performance was “perfect” before Dani Alves was sent off in their thumping 4-2 victory over

.

Atleti took the lead through Yannick Carrasco’s impressive opener, but the Catalans leveled the game soon after and then went 2-1 up with goals from Jordi Alba and Gavi.

Ronald Araujo then furthered their lead with his strike before Alves netted their fourth goal at the beginning of the second half.

Although Atletico Madrid tried to lessen the gap through Luis Suarez’s goal, they failed to win the battle.

Alves then received a red card for fouling on Carrasco and became the first player to have netted and been sent off for Barca in a single

clash since 2004-05.

Barcelona boss Xavi was pleased with how his side performed before Alves was sent off, with the victory putting the Blaugrana fourth in the table.

"

Before Alves was sent off, the game was perfect,"

he said.

"We had to go back a bit [after the red], but the first 60 minutes represents the Barca that we all love.

"When we had 11 men, we were very good. We had worked with the 3-4-3 and the 3-5-2.

"We showed solidarity after the expulsion, we defended the area well and we haven't suffered too much."

Although their victory has put them two points clear of their rivals Atletico, the Barca manager is not getting ahead of himself.

"

You have to be humble,"

he added.

"It's an important victory, against the champions. We fell behind and were then patient.

"I think we've played 60 very good minutes, but we have to continue."

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