Xavi praises Barça's new 'winning character' after their 'epic' comeback against Celta

Barcelona's "winning character" was lauded by coach Xavi Hernandez after his team's incredible 3-2 comeback to defeat Celta Vigo on Saturday and take the top spot in La Liga.

The team came back from behind two goals to win thanks to a brace from Robert Lewandowski and a late goal from Joao Cancelo, and the coach, who inked a new contract that will last until 2025, celebrated his 50th La Liga victory.

The visitors appeared to be headed for an unexpected victory over the champions after goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Anastasios Douvikas, but Barcelona mounted a "epic" comeback.

"We didn't play well (but) came up with the epic, showing winning character," Xavi told reporters.

"Historically we have lacked that ... this shows the generational change we have, they didn't give up, two nil down at home.

"I think this generation fights until the end ... what happened today is a tremendous turning point of winning character, we didn't play well but it's about character, faith, the epic."

Wily Celta coach Rafa Benitez set up in his typically defensive fashion, unlike Barcelona's recent visitors Real Betis and Royal Antwerp, whose attacking intent made them lambs to the slaughter.

Barcelona hit 10 goals in their previous two matches, with Xavi saying it was the best they had played in his reign, but this performance was largely at the other end of the spectrum.

"(Winning) tastes good, but is it better than the day against Betis or Antwerp? No, because this is not our path," said Xavi.

"The other day, we played well and moved the ball up the pitch; this team suffers a lot when we lower our intensity."

- Celta counters -

Although they didn't pose much of a threat, Barcelona dominated the first 19 minutes of play before Celta Vigo made a late push against the flow of the game.

After a corner was only partially cleared, Andreas Christensen played Strand Larsen onside, and the Norwegian forward finished clinically past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

At the other end Joao Felix could not control a nicely scooped Frenkie de Jong through pass, before the Dutch midfielder sustained an ankle problem and was replaced by tenacious teenager Gavi.

Spanish reports said De Jong would be sidelined for up to five weeks, potentially missing the Clasico clash with Real Madrid at the end of October.

Celta frequently caused problems on the counter-attack and Ter Stegen foiled Strand Larsen and Jonathan Bamba.

Eventually Benitez's side grabbed their second through new signing Douvikas, who swept home after running on to Iago Aspas's perfectly weighted ball.

However Barcelona hit back swiftly, with Lewandowski flicking the ball over the head of Villar and in off the crossbar after Felix cleverly chipped a ball to him over the top.

It sparked a fire previously lacking in Barcelona's performance, with Lewandowski netting the second four minutes later after Cancelo cut the ball back into his path.

Cancelo won Barcelona the game, dispatching Gavi's excellent cross past Villar with the prowess of a striker.

"I was making a lot of technical errors, that's not normal in my game -- I have to improve, we all have to improve," Cancelo told Movistar.

"It's always better to play badly and win, than to play well and lose, the three points are the most important thing."

- 'Take a screenshot' -

Earlier Girona romped to a 5-3 win over Real Mallorca to move temporarily top of La Liga before Barca knocked them back down to second on goal difference.

Five victories out of six games have seen Michel's undefeated team get off to a fantastic start to the season.

Girona coach Michel joked, "Let's all take a screenshot and see if this lasts more than an hour and a half."

In a derby match on Sunday, Real Madrid, who are currently one point behind the top two, will take on Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid, who are in third place and have a perfect record, could reclaim first place.

Fifth-place Valencia were entertained to a 2-2 draw with bottom-of-the-table Almeria.

Sevilla and Osasuna drew 0-0 at El Sadar, and the team is still hovering just above the relegation zone.