“It’s been four years since we’ve been in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. It’s been four years since we haven’t been among the eight best teams in Europe. And we have to see it as an opportunity for everyone”, said Xavi Hernández. As a player he won four Champions Leagues, including the last to date for Barça in the final in Berlin 2015. As a manager of his lifetime team, he has experienced two knockouts groups And from Qatar, as coach of Al-Sadd, he observed how Quique Setién (2020) and Ronald Koeman (2021) fell with Barça to the last eight, just where his team is now. “You have to be brave, show that you can compete after so many years without being at the level”, asked Xavi. No one wins being an optimist.
The president Joan Laporta was not in the sports city yesterday to wish the team luck. In his place, the sports vice-president Rafa Yuste attended, who greeted all the players. But Xavi and the president are in permanent contact. “Laporta is very motivated. My good relationship with the president has not changed”, said Xavi, who, after the victory against Mallorca, met again in Montjuïc with the highest representative. After the post-match press conference, they had dinner together in the room attached to the Barcelona dressing room where catering is always available for the players and coaching staff. Unless there is a catastrophe, Laporta is determined to keep Xavi. In fact, he never wanted him to announce his departure at the end of the season, and so he has broadcast it several times. Despite this, yesterday the president met in Barcelona with Pini Zahavi, Lewandowski’s agent but also Hansi Flick, a technician who is in the Blaugrana orbit. They know that it is very difficult for Xavi to change his mind. “I have an expiration date; I’m not important, it’s the team, the club, not me”, recalled Xavi yesterday, stubborn to focus on the role of his players. “I told them not to be afraid, that you need to take a step forward. I don’t see better teams in Europe, but what affects us are our economic circumstances”, said a Xavi who regrets that the club’s financial weakness has prevented them from further strengthening last year’s champion squad, which had essential footballers for him such as Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembélé. The replacements that have arrived – Oriol Romeu and João Félix – are not fixed in their scheme.
Xavi is now training a short squad with twenty-one footballers from the first team which, in addition, has been left without important figures for him such as Gavi, Pedri, Balde or Frenkie de Jong. The expected reappearance of Ferran Torres, scheduled for last weekend against Mallorca, is also delayed because the Foios striker has not yet trained with the team. Due to his daring way of playing, he has preferred not to take risks. “But injuries are no excuse”, insisted Xavi. “And we are not afraid to fail either. We have to show that, despite this, we can be at a good level”, he said.
The financial crisis does not prevent the observation of green shoots. Young people Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, aged 16 and 17 respectively, are experiencing a historic moment. Xavi knows this, who has encouraged them to “help us and have fun because they are being important”.
Xavi claims that Barça has improved since he announced that he will be leaving at the end of the season. He has also noticed an improvement since Francesco Calzona arrived in Naples to replace Walter Mazzarri the day before the first leg (1-1). He sees an opponent “more at ease on the pitch” and repeated that the striker is the team’s most powerful line, but when asked by an Italian journalist, he chose midfielder Stanislav Lobotka as the player he likes the most like “Build and don’t lose balls. I would like to see him in a club like Barça”, he emphasized.
Another of the coach’s wishes is that today the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators, is full to the rafters with Barcelona fans. “Montjuïc must look like Camp Nou. It must be full of spoons and be a pressure cooker”, asked the technician.
