MADRID: Barcelona playmaker Xavi was reluctant to talk about the referee's decision to send off Real Madrid's Pepe (above) in their first-leg semifinal at Santiago Bernabeu this morning, but the Spain international insisted it was the correct call.

"I just want to talk about football. There will always be decision from referees that will be talked about. Sometimes they go against you and sometimes they go in your favour. It was clear to see for everybody that Pepe's dismissal was a correct decision," Xavi told Marca.

He said Barca deserved the win and added the Catalans were superior to their opponents.

"We got the result that we deserved. We were again superior. We're a team that want to play attacking football and have fun on the pitch. Real are just hoping that we'll make mistakes. That worked in the Copa del Rey final, but not this time.

"I don't want to talk about (Jose) Mourinho. I only want to discuss Barca. We put in a good performance and it's a fair result. This is a victory for football."

Barca and Real meet again next week in the second-leg at Nou Camp.

And attacker Pedro said Barca must remain cautious in this match despite the good advantage they enjoy.

"We are 90 minutes away from the final but we must be cautious. We are in a good position but there is still another game," he said.

Despite the impressive away result that was achieved without several first team players including Eric Abidal, Adriano and Andres Iniesta, Pedro remains upset about the club's Copa del Rey defeat last week.

"I'm still disappointed after the defeat in the cup final because we were fighting for all the titles."

The 23-year-old is having yet another impressive season for Barca and has scored 20 goals in 46 appearances so far.

LONDON: Blackburn centreback defender Chris Samba warned they must improve in front of goal to avoid being relegated from the Premier League.

Blackburn are now just one point outside the drop zone after Monday's 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City stretched the club's winless run to 10 games.

Steve Kean's side have also scored only once in the past four matches, while their topscorer in the league — Nikola Kalinic — made just one substitute's appearance in the past two months.

Samba pinpointed the reason for Blackburn's shortcomings and urged the strikers to rediscover their shooting boots ahead of Saturday's derby against Bolton.

"If we don't score goals, we won't win matches," said Samba.

"It's as simple as that.

"We showed better form against City and had shots on goal. We had some chances, put some good crosses into the box but couldn't score. We have to improve.

"What we have to do is to learn to put the ball into the back of the net.

"At this stage of the season, it all comes down to experience and knowing how to win these games.

"The quality teams know how to do that — and that's what we are missing," he said.