Oblivious to the bombshell that Xavi Hernández would announce minutes later at a press conference, his departure from the club on June 30, the Blaugrana players paraded before the media microphones to assess the sad defeat at home against Villarreal. Joao Cancelo was one of the most forceful when it came to assessing his role in the defeat: “It was one of the worst 45 minutes of my career, but I’m already thinking about Wednesday. It’s my fault for 0-2. “You have to be sincere.”
The Portuguese also attributed the bad result to the inexperience of a squad with many young players: “I think the lack of experience caused us to have this result. We have a young team. But I am very sad. My performance has been a disaster and I could not help the team. The coach is not to blame,” he said before learning that the coach will leave the club at the end of the season.
Frenkie de Jong also assumed responsibilities and relieved his coach: “The coach is doing a good job. What is happening is the players’ fault. We are giving away some things that cannot be in a top team. It cannot be that by winning 3-2 that they tie us with so much space. We have to do that much better. Too much happens to us this year,” admitted the Dutchman.
Araújo expressed himself along the same lines. “Xavi gave us back our identity, our desire, we are all with the coach, many of us have grown up with him, we have just won as champions last year.” The Uruguayan central defender was “very sad about the result.” “After coming back from a game, having them come back again is a shame,” he said before accepting the mistakes made: “They were our mistakes. I take responsibility for that goal (3-4), when the game is already ending. “We have to be more responsible and self-critical in this difficult moment. Those at the top are escaping us,” he lamented.
The Blaugrana footballer, despite everything, wanted to send a message of optimism: “We have just won the League and the Super Cup last year. It is practically the same team. It is a tough moment, but we have to lift our heads and continue.”
On the Villarreal side, their coach, Marcelino García Toral, stressed that the match “was a roller coaster” in the second half. “The game went crazy in the final stretch because Barça wanted to win and we were able to turn the result around. “A more beautiful game for the spectator than for the coach.”
