Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez reflected the mood at Camp Nou after another 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich and their elimination from the Champions League, sombre and melancholy.
Inter’s win over Viktoria Plzen, which the Barcelona players watched as a group before their own fixture with Bayern Munich, had confirmed their exit from the Champions League. In 2023 they will drop into the Europa League for the second straight season.
Speaking to Marca after the match, Xavi admitted the Inter result played a part in their motivation.
“Today we have not reached their level, they have been better. In Munich it was us, but today they have been better, more intense. The elimination affected us psychologically. Tomorrow, we train and think about LaLiga. There were high expectations, we had a difficult group. Everything possible happened to us. It has been very cruel. We didn’t compete well today.”
However he also admitted the inescapable truth – Barcelona did not compete with Bayern Munich.
“We know that everything has happened to us, all possible situations. I understand that from the outside there is talk of failure, but inside we do different analysis. The first thing is our mistakes, that we have not been at the level due to effectiveness or errors. The way we went out of the competition, waiting for a game to finish, is also cruel. We leave feeling. If we analyse the other games, I think we deserved more”.
Although their fate was more or less sealed before this match, the manner of their defeat seemed like it was being confirmed for the third time.
Equally, the cruelty Xavi speaks of allowed many to feel that while Barcelona were not good in their previous matches, they were also unfortunate. The limp form of their loss adjusts the perspective – Barcelona are simply not good enough for the Champions League.
Image via Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Xavi is killing the youths. Demoralizing players, has No clue how to manage the Good players he has and to position them efficiently. It’s like he been watching Australian football and sent to coach in Spain. These great young players…Ansu- prodigy of la masia #10. Fit again and getting 10mins playing time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang carried us to CL and sold. #1 Midfielder Frankie De Jong in defense. But this is our way forward in building with Xavi. Interim coaches were Wayyyyy better.
Both barca and bayern have philosophies which assume being the best team (wanting to dominate). Unfortunately for barca, this implies starting on false assumptions often against bayern. It works better against top quality cautious opponents such as real, because they give barca the space to feel dominant. Bayern doesn’t do that, just like barca tries to take that space from opponents.
Xavi is a dummy
In every battle their must be a lose,pedri don’t give or else you destroy barce,instead find solution and prepare for next!