Frenkie de Jong receieved a red card and was sent off during a crucial point in the 2-2 draw with Espanyol.Â
Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal scored the 2 goals – putting Barcelona in the lead. However, de Jong got shown a second yellow card in the last 15 minutes of the match and they were not able to score a third goal.
“We have to fight in every match,” Valverde told reporters.
“We started badly, we managed to come back but unfortunately we went down to 10. They pressed and equalised.
“Frenkie’s dismissal did us a lot of damage. We were unable to score a third. This is football.
“It was a very competitive game, a derby with a lot of tension and emotion. If you’re winning and the opponent equalises, you leave with the impression of having lost two points.”
The Barca boss admits that his team has the ability to come out of tough calls and situations – however, they do struggle quite a bit still.
“In a lot of games, we cash in first,” he said.
“We managed to take the lead in four away games, whereas in other games we managed to come from behind.