“We risk our lives in every game. We expect a hot, squeezing, pressing environment. I know the fans won’t let us down”. Xavi Hernández, the Barcelona coach, joins the plea launched by Eric García, both aware that the team needs their fans to eliminate Eintracht Frankfurt (1-1 in the first leg).
“The atmosphere in the stadium will be one of the keys, it is important that the fans are well. In addition, the grass will be fine and it will not be an excuse,” said the Barça coach on a couple of occasions. “We have to be better than them in terms of football,” said Xavi, who did not stop praying that the Camp Nou would clone the “hot” atmosphere that Barça endured in Germany. “Surely they will not fail us. We need them.”
“Barça is the most demanding club in the world. The most difficult. We have an obligation to play well and win. Imagine what Barça is like!” he told a journalist. “It’s not worth it for us to win 1-0 in the 90th minute because all week there is a spectacular debate about what has happened, even winning. We must always be excellent in everything we do. That is why it is the most difficult of the world. No, there is no comparison,” said the coach.
“There is no comparison anywhere, in any country. Barça is the most demanding club in the world”
Xavi, Barça coach
“Winning by playing well is very difficult,” said Xavi, who did not want to seek any comparison with Madrid’s style. “Those of us who have known the house all our lives already know that. We already know that. There is no comparison anywhere, in any country. Barça is the most demanding club in the world,” insisted the coach. “You have to win by playing well, that’s how history has told us. Many teams have done it, we have to try.”
🗣️ Xavi: “We have the obligation to win and play well. This is Barça. It’s about being excellent”#BarçaEintracht pic.twitter.com/Y0ZVIJqkTw
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) April 13, 2022
“The history of Barça demands of us, not Madrid. We don’t look at Madrid to demand ourselves. And our history for almost 40 years, when Johan Cruyff came, set a bar. And the bar is to win by playing well because if you don’t We’re not happy. That’s how we Catalans are. I don’t know the idiosyncrasies of Madrid, I haven’t lived there and I don’t know much about the history. They’re a spectacular rival, they have a great competitive gene and they’re admirable. But Barça is another story , it has nothing to do with it”, the Barcelona coach limited himself to saying.
The current story is the Europa League. “I wanted to win the Champions League, but the circumstances mean that we are in this situation. The Europa League makes us excited. Yesterday I watched the two Champions League games from home, you know that I am a great football fan. And it has to give us courage not to be in the Champions”.
“We lost too many balls and there we suffer because four or five players come out like beasts. We have to be more neat. We have to be more responsible with the ball”
Xavi, Barça coach
Now, Barça must “match” that atmosphere that lived in the Frankfurt Stadium last Thursday where Ferran Torres’ goal is a treasure. “Yes, yes, that atmosphere surprised me,” acknowledged the coach, who later entered into tactical discussions about the improvements that his team should make so as not to make the same mistakes as in Germany.
🗣️ Xavi: “Overcoming the tie is a step forward. We are very excited”#BarçaEintracht pic.twitter.com/4qbvMFEz7I
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) April 13, 2022
“We lost too many balls and there we suffer because four or five players come out like beasts. We have to be neater and better positioned in transition than the other day. We have to be more responsible with the ball,” Xavi claimed after recalling during his appearance before the press that “Villarreal, as I had already said, is a great. You can now put it on that list of greats”.
“We have trained a lot at a tactical level to attack better,” assured the coach, who specified that he does not know if he will be able to count on Piqué. “Gerard’s will depend on his feelings. There is no doubt that he wants to be there and he is very competitive. He likes big games and tomorrow he is. It depends on the pain. If he is not one hundred percent it will be difficult for him to participate”, admitted.
Xavi has not wanted, however, to set deadlines on the return of Ansu Fati. “Until he feels well we can’t say anything. Today, for example, he has had some very good races, with peak speeds. But we don’t set ourselves deadlines”.
The deadline for Barça is to eliminate Eintracht this Thursday and approach the semifinals of the Europa League, assuming that the team has experienced some “mental fatigue” as evidenced by the difficulties against Eintracht and Levante.
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“For them it is the most important game in their history and we have to match that intensity and that desire. We try to motivate the players that every game is going to be life for us. We are not left over”.
Hence, I would like to value the performance that Luuk de Jong is offering, who scores decisive goals like the one that gave the victory over Levante. “I value Luuk a lot, he has been an example. He is an exemplary professional. He doesn’t complain about anything, he always trains one hundred percent”, highlighted Xavi. “It is spectacular to have him in the team. He is an asset that we have. He associates well and has improved a lot since we arrived. It is a privilege to have him.”