Xavi Hernández looks at the faces of his players before making their debut in the Champions League 23-24 and sees enthusiasm and joy in them. “Enjoy and work,” Xavi tells them. However, the music, the logo, the Champions League ball has become a trauma for the club and its fans in recent times. Barcelona has fallen two years in a row in the group stage and has not passed a knockout stage in Europe’s top competition since 2019. And the coach believes that this season Barça must once again claim its place among the best. “It’s time to take a step forward. We have to believe it to be great again. “It is the perfect setting,” he pointed the way.
Before making his home debut against Royal Antwerp, there is no fear of relapse or experiencing another blow in the mind of Xavi, a born optimist. “It’s a challenge and I like challenges,” he defines it. He helps the big game against Betis, but he also doesn’t want the urgency of the environment to take over his team. “We can become obsessed. We must move and give continuity to what was on Saturday, that is the way. And as far as he gives us. The first year it didn’t work for us. The second gave us but we did not compete. We played well but we didn’t have results. Now we really have to compete,” he put it as his homework.
At the moment, the coach does not want to think about being a favorite or one of the big contenders. He goes step by step and after recent experiences it seems reasonable.
“We haven’t qualified for two years so the objective is clear: get through the group. “Be in the round of 16 pot and then we’ll talk.”
Eight seasons have passed since the final in Berlin, of the Blaugrana club’s last Champions League six, and Xavi does not hide that there is no middle ground for Barcelona. “The demands at Barça are brutal, the bar is very high. It is a consequence of our stage, of inheriting the most brilliant one in the history of our club. From 2006 to 2015, four Champions Leagues were won. You have to accept it,” he recalled.
Barça went from being badly accustomed to getting used to not measuring up. However, the Egarense coach does not detect having lost prestige. “When we went to Munich or to the Inter Milan field I saw that they had respect for us, because of how they played against us. Now we are the champions of the League. We have strengthened ourselves well but this is not about words but about demonstration. At the very least, you have to compete,” he said.
For this revalidation, to forget the recent past, Xavi has a clear path. And the mirror in which to look is the last game, the 5-0 against Betis. “At the level of Saturday or like last year in the Super Cup it will give us to compete in Europe,” he assured. Although it also lowered the euphoria a point. “We did a lot of great things but not everything. We will correct things,” he warned.
Xavi has not yet recovered Araújo in defense but he has all the forwards on a roll. “It’s a blessed problem for me that there are so many people in good shape. The front four scored and Lamine is in a great moment. It’s difficult for me to play eleven. Everyone is plugged in and it makes me proud. I have a choice,” he stated. Antwerp measures the new illusion.
