Barça will face the definitive classic to be in the Copa del Rey final that will be played on May 6 in Seville without Frenkie de Jong, Dembélé, Christensen or Pedri. It will be the fifth classic of the season for Xavi’s men, the second at the Camp Nou. They have only lost one, the one in the first round of the League at the Bernabéu. The rest are counted with victories. However, Xavi does not feel that he has taken the measure of Real Madrid. “It doesn’t mean anything. It helps us to have more pride and self-esteem and it can also encourage them,” he warned.

And he added that, despite the balance sheet, “I don’t feel I have the measure taken against Real Madrid. It’s a team that is very used to coming back from games, it’s been a long time since they lost a double tie. But playing in a final makes us very excited” Xavi analyzed.

The FC Barcelona coach, who visualizes a “difficult and complicated” game, hopes that, despite the losses in midfield, his Barça will be more like the team that beat Real Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup than the first leg of the Cup where he stood out for his defense, making use of the 0-1. “Our match example is the Super Cup. We want to win by playing well, but there is a rival in front who can dominate you. Champion of the League and of Europe. Even so, despite the casualties, the idea is the same, although it is true that not having Frenkie makes us less neat”.

In the Barcelona dressing room there is a desire to succeed and to continue harvesting titles. There is a hunger for titles. “There are many footballers who have only won the Super Cup,” recalled Xavi, a supporter of leaving out all the institutional noise. “I don’t know Javier Tebas personally, I’ve only greeted him two or three times. And in the locker room we don’t talk about extra-sports issues. We talk about how to play, how to place the players. We don’t talk about anything, neither about UEFA nor about Negreira nor Tebas. We are focused on football. It is already important enough to think about football. We play at home and the Camp Nou must be a pressure cooker”, he asked. And he stressed that between Barcelona and Real Madrid “there is a war but it is football. We have taken a step forward after losing at the Bernabé. We have done an excellent job. Very good things can come out of this team.”

And he ended by recalling that “we must not forget where we come from. How we were last year. This course, despite the elimination from the Champions League, I was always very positive. I saw things in training.”

The classic cupbearer will be refereed by Munuera Montero. Xavi wished him luck. “Martínez Munuera neither likes me nor dislikes me. Let him do it in the best way. I believe in the honesty of the referees. I would not like to win games by cheating. I want to win legally and if not, I would leave for home. We all get angry when they harm us but personally I don’t like being helped”, declared a Xavi who wants his team to qualify for what would be his 43rd cup final. In his showcases he has 31 titles. Barça is the King of Cups. And Real Madrid has not lost a tie since May 2021 against Chelsea. almost 2 years ago.