Coach Xavi from FC Barcelona goes into the Europa League duel with Eintracht Frankfurt with great respect.
“We weren’t lucky with the draw,” said the 42-year-old before the quarter-final first leg on Thursday (9:00 p.m. / RTL) in the Main metropolis: “It will undoubtedly be a very complicated quarter-final. It’s a game of the century for them. We have to equalize that motivation.”
Club icon Xavi, who has not lost the last 13 games with the Catalans, emphasized the Bundesliga’s “unknown” style of play in Spain.
“We’re not used to playing against such a system. They’re very well organized and physically strong. The transitional game has to be emphasized. It won’t be easy,” said Xavi.
Frankfurt has numerous “top players” in Rafael Borre, Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindström, said the 2010 world champion, who had won the Champions League four times as a player with Barca. Xavi said he wanted to “dominate the game through possession of the ball” and warned: “It would be a huge mistake to take the game lightly.”