Barcelona coach Xavi refused to turn on his players after their 3-3 draw with Inter Milan.
Inter now need just three points from their final two games, against Viktoria Plzen and Bayern Munich, to book their place in the Champions League last 16.
Xavi said: “This Champions League is being cruel to us. We conceded a lot in the second half. The first half was excellent. The first goal is a clear mistake from the defensive line, the second as well… it’s been cruel with us since Munich, in Milan and even tonight.
“But it is about winning, not conceding and defending well, not just attacking. We don’t depend on ourselves now. The situation is really difficult.
“We have to keep going and think about the Clasico on Sunday, recover well for that. We have to think in LaLiga, because the Champions League has become really complicated.”
Inter’s three goals on Wednesday came from mistakes.
“Football is a game of errors and you always have to minimise the,” Xavi added. “We didn’t defend well. The intensity was excellent in the first half, but we did not maintain it. You pay a high price for your mistakes in the Champions League. Errors in defence have cost us the game.
“We gave everything, we left it all on the pitch, but we have paid for mistakes. You cannot let teams off the hook so often. In Munich, it was a lack of cutting edge, in Milan other circumstances and today it was defensive errors.”
