Barcelona suffered their second successive defeat in a row on Wednesday, as they disappointingly went down 3-2 to Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League group game. The fortunate thing for the Catalans is that the result mattered little in the wider context, as they still finished top of Group H.
However, at this stage, it has increased the pressure on Xavi Hernandez and his players. Barcelona have been under significant scrutiny in recent weeks after a string of poor performance, although Ferran Torres feels that it is unwarranted, and he took aim at the media for this.
“We know what Barcelona is like and the external noise. They try to destroy us and make us nervous.”
🚨 Ferran Torres: "We know what Barça is like and the external noise, they try to destroy us and make us nervous." pic.twitter.com/lykQgk4XAi
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 13, 2023
There’s no doubt that pressure is building at Barcelona. Xavi will take the brunt of it as he is the manager, but his players are not immune. A big response will be needed against Valencia this weekend in order to get the media off their back.
