Barcelona escaped their final official game of the year with three points after beating Almeria 3-2 on Wednesday night at Montjuic. The winless Almeria took Barcelona to the brink though, and Xavi revealed that the second half improvement was in part down to Xavi Hernandez’s speech.
The performance did not fool anyone though. For the first time, Xavi called out his own players, stating that they were not showing enough desire to compete with Almeria. That was the message he was trying to convey at half time.
“It is very serious that a team that has only won one league does not have soul, but it will not happen again. It’s my responsibility. During the break I had the toughest talk of my career as a coach. Has it worked? You’ve already seen it. I liked the second half, unlike the first, and that’s why we won. I think the victory is fair,” he told Sport.
“The game went perfectly for us because the first half is what we should not do and the second, what we should do. If we play like the second half we will always be able to compete for the titles.”
Those statements came after Xavi had lost patience with his players, calling them out directly for their attitude rather than just mistakes. It looks as if this could be a turning point for Barcelona this season. If the players respond, they could get their season back on track, but anything else will likely mark a loss of power in the dressing room for Xavi.
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