Before CL game against Pilsen
The disappointment of missing the Champions League knockout phase is still noticeable at FC Barcelona these days. The duel with Viktoria Pilsen on Tuesday evening (from 9 p.m. in the TM live ticker) is sportingly meaningless (all tables at a glance), Barça have to make their way to the Europa League like last year. Newcomer Robert Lewandowski confirmed at the beginning of the week (read the article) that what the world’s seventh most valuable squad is currently lacking in order to be able to resume the successful old days on the international stage is serenity and stability – now his coach Xavi reacted to the striker’s words.
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At the preliminary press conference, the 42-year-old initially tried not to shelve the Pilsen game in advance: “I’m motivated – even if it were a friendly game. We’re privileged to be at Barça, it’s the best club in the world. The players who get fewer assignments have to show themselves – just like the young players.” He appealed to competition and motivation within the team, which was strengthened last summer for around 153 million euros – only five clubs gave more money on the Transfermarkt, all from the English Premier League.
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The coach does not rule out further reinforcements in the winter, he said: “We still have three games before the break because of the World Cup. After we contested them, we have a month and a half to plan the squad.” The financially troubled Catalans, whose transfer activities are based on a sophisticated system (read the background story), have the fourth youngest squad in LaLiga this season, which is made up of young stars such as “Golden Boy” and “Kopa” winners Gavi (18), Pedri (19) and Ansu Fati (20) – three players whose combined market value is already 220 million euros.
The coach also attributes the sporting performance in Europe to a resulting lack of rip-off. Lewandowski is not wrong in his criticism, says Xavi: “Our performance can also be explained by the fact that we have many young players. In this constellation, I don’t know, we only played 16 or 17 games together. We had the most difficult group in the Champions League for years (…) with some questionable refereeing decisions. We had a lot of injuries at crucial moments, that’s no excuse, but it caused us a lot of problems. But above all, we were unable to control these stressful situations at the decisive moments in order to be competitive. I think that’s what Lewandowski is referring to.”
Xavi on FC Barcelona squad: “Maybe we lack that maturity”
In an interview with the newspaper “La Vanguardia‘ about the current situation and leaving ‘not happy’. They are “in a reconstruction process that takes time,” said the Pole, who added: “Bavaria has been incredibly stable for years. They may not play well because they weren’t much better than us against us in Munich, for example, but they win. Barcelona need that stability, but it’s not easy to create it.”
When asked about the words of the attacker, who was rested against Pilsen and not in the squad, Xavi took the same line: “Lewandowski is absolutely right. You have to know how to compete at the right time, know how to dominate when you’re ahead. But that has nothing to do with the idea of our game. Robert refers to knowing how to perform at certain times. I totally agree, maybe sometimes we still lack this maturity as a team.”
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