The city that sanctified the indomitable Maradona, the atmosphere that Paolo Sorrentino captured with such a good eye, the place that blends chaos and beauty, deterioration and charm, history and neglect like no other. Naples. Always threatened by the sleeping volcano, Vesuvius, the monster around the corner. Port city, rogue city. And, of course, a soccer fan.
Here today Xavi’s Barça seeks its particular eruption, a promise of liberation whose mantric cadence is never fulfilled. The goal this time is to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Today is the first round. Hope, they say, is the last thing to be lost. Either that, or the volcano will eat Barça. Again.
It is increasingly difficult to believe that that long-awaited outbreak will come, but football is a world full of surprises and the rival cannot boast of anything either. Champion of the Italian league last season, the Neapolitan joy (no one slept that night) has faded quickly. You know, wealth doesn’t last long in the south. Luciano Spalletti, the coach of that great team, is today the Italian coach and his two replacements have succumbed to the comparison. Rudi García fell first and, last Monday night, Walter Mazzarri. Today Francesco Calzona, Slovakia coach and former assistant to Sarri, or Spalletti in champion Napoli, will sit on the bench. Napoli, ninth in their championship, is desperately seeking to find themselves again and changes coach hours before playing the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. We’re not so bad, a Barcelona fan tired of envying other people’s projects may finally think.
Two volcanic clubs facing each other. This is a difficult match to predict, with a Barça team with a disconcerting, results-oriented and complaining trajectory when it was mistakenly imagined returning the club to excellence. Yesterday it was Frenkie de Jong’s turn. He chose the Dutchman the day before the most important game of the season to harshly criticize the press, therefore totally adapted to a club with a penchant for permanent trouble.
Beyond the fires, it is obvious that Barça’s room for improvement, including De Jong, is wide. Although without falling into exaggeration. The squad does not have decisive stars and its rather dull game is only encouraged from time to time by a 16-year-old boy called to be a dominator of his sport in the future, Lamine Yamal, a revolutionary in the midst of civil servant football. The season may end up empty of trophies. If the players want to rebel against that perception, they will have to give another image of themselves. Starting with Naples. For too long, Barça has suffered more than played. The starting lineup (review the sheet) is enough to beat Naples. Sergi Roberto and João Félix, the latter a current player, must be incorporated as reinforcements (they were discharged yesterday). The second part could be a feast for him. He should take it that way.
Xavi spoke yesterday from the bowels of the Diego Maradona stadium, a “magnificent setting”, he described it, ideal to advance in the Champions League, “our unfinished business as a club”.
“We don’t play to shut mouths. We play for people who want good for the club. The focus is not criticism and injustice. The focus is the stage, which is magnificent, as well as the excitement and hope,” he said in a packed press room. “The key words are enjoy and, above all, compete,” she added.
Regarding his personal situation, Xavi assured that since announcing his departure at the end of the season he sees the club much more united (“to the players, the president and Deco,” he listed) and assured that he does not feel his job is threatened: “No. I have the feeling that my position is on the line, that they will kick me out. I have a feeling of hope and excitement. I think positively, not in negative scenarios.”
