“We will leave our skins to be in the semi-finals”, resolved Xavi. At this point, the Barça coach has no one to stop him. Excited almost to the level of the always exultant president Laporta, Xavi is living a dream. As optimistic as he is, he never imagined that, after his deferred resignation in January, Barça would be available almost three months later to access the hype of Europe’s top four. “I’m excited, we all are. It is a very big opportunity for the club. It will be a great football battle”, reasoned the coach, searching with little success for the difficult balance between prudence and euphoria. He won the second one because, even if Xavi continues to see PSG as the favourite, he can get away with the excitement of the crowd after the advantage they got in Paris. “Football belongs to the players. The coach only guides them. And victories give you relief”, he explained. In this he agrees with the philosophy of his counterpart at Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti.
The data are irrevocable. Since announcing his departure for June on January 27, Barça have not known defeat. In 13 games, he has won ten and drawn three. He has also recovered defensive solidity with nine goals conceded. Now, the most important thing for Xavi is that his team plays with pride. The same thing he felt when in 2015 he won Barça’s last Champions League to date as captain in Berlin. Then he lived from Qatar as the team, with Valverde on the bench and Bartomeu in the box, fell in the 2018-2019 season in the semi-finals against Liverpool after eliminating Manchester United. This has been the Barcelona ceiling for the last five years. “It’s one more reason to make it more mystical,” he said.
To achieve this, Xavi has a very clear plan. “Luis Enrique and PSG have so many footballers that you don’t know how he can use them. He will not go out to speculate and match our man-to-man system, but we are clear that we must have a clear structure in defense and attack. We had it in the first leg, it went well and, with some variation, we will repeat the tactic”, insisted coach Xavi. The same one who says he has had good teachers. Among them, Luis Enrique. And the rings don’t fall off to admit it. “Along with Luis Aragonés and Guardiola, he is one of the three coaches who has marked me the most. This is my reality,” he said humbly.
And the Barça DNA? “This club generates many technicians because it makes you understand the why of things. That four coaches who have passed through here are in the quarters is another merit of being from Barça”, he said. Once again, his Barcelona pride came out. Then, he asked for one last favor: “Montjuïc must be a boiler. At the height of the great nights at the Camp Nou”.
