Brutal outburst from Gavi against the refereeing: "They don't hold back with me"

Sunday, February 9th was a tumultuous night for Gavi. Despite FC Barcelona secured a comfortable victory against Sevilla, the blue-and-red midfielder was affected during the first 45 minutes by a yellow card and some physical discomfort, which is why Hansi Flick decided to replace him at halftime, bringing in Fermín López.

At the end of the match, the player from Los Palecios spoke to the press and explained the reasons for his substitution. "The change? It was a very complicated match, it was very intense. And you know that I am very intense. I never let myself go. The coach and I decided it was best for the team. Given the nature of the match and with the yellow card... it was complicated to continue at 100%" he commented.

In the same way, Gavi made it clear that the referees also influenced his substitution by stating that "everyone knows that the referees don't hold back with me, that's why the change. The match wasn't the time for foolishness. Everyone knows that the referees don't hold back with me".

Barça's options in LaLiga, according to Gavi

The Andalusian was replaced by Fermín López, who scored the go-ahead goal for Barça with the first ball he touched against the palanganas. Regarding this, the blue-and-red '6' stated that "Fermín really had an outstanding match. He came in and resolved the game. I'm very happy for him".

However, the player from El Campillo was sent off in the 61st minute for a reckless challenge on Djibril Sow, but the team managed to cope with the numerical disadvantage and came away with three points from the Sánchez-Pizjuán. "We are very happy with the match. It's not easy with one less and we handled it very well. The result here is very good" commented Gavi regarding this.

Finally, the player spoke about Barça's chances of becoming champions of LaLiga, stating that "I already said that the league is very long. People thought we wouldn't be there. We are two points away and this is long. We have to keep going and win everything left to win this championship, which is what we want".