Barça appears tonight in the Copa del Rey, a tournament that they dominate better than anyone. Tournament in which, before the club’s golden age, served to raise titles that gave time to fledgling projects (cruyff in 1990) placed under suspicion or Copas del Rey that later opened the path to perfection (guardiola in 2009).
Now, in times of misery, with the club submerged in a hard life without Messi, immersed in financial problems, surviving thanks to crowbars, a Cup would also give peace to Xavi’s plan, who, worried about the derby tie, trusts no one .
Not even from Intercity de Alicante, a club as new (founded in 2017) as unique (it is the only one in Spanish football that has been listed on the Stock Exchange for two years). Does not want Xavi surprises, assuming, obviously, the status of “top favourite” against a team that struggles in the First RFEF, framed in the same group as the Barça subsidiary that he directs Rafael Marquezswarming in the lower zone, located in the sixteenth position of the group 2 table. A symptom of its extreme weakness, no matter how much Xaviwho could not lift the Cup last year, evoke tragic episodes in this tournament.
“The Cup is an objective, of course. I can’t imagine going through, but the first game is always hard. I remember what happened with Figueres, Gramenet… You have to put all five senses in because if you can’t lose a competition”
Xavi, coach of Barça
“The Cup is an objective, of course. I can’t imagine going through, but the first game is always very difficult. I remember what happened in Figueres, Gramenet…”, he pointed out, urging his team “to use all five senses because if you can’t lose one competition”. And Barça is not going to go throwing away titles, needing as it is to find joy on the field that returns “the magnetism and illusion” that radiates, according to Xavi, the fans, capable as they are of filling the Camp Nou every time who plays your team.
?? Now it’s up to us… pic.twitter.com/FIugGrfGmO
— ?? ????????? (@CFIntercity) January 3, 2023
Without Lewandowski, without Pedri
The only concession that the coach has allowed himself is to rest Lewandowski and Pedri. “I have spoken with Robert and I have told him to be calm, to forget everything that is said about the sanction”, revealed Xavi, convinced that he will be able to have the Polish striker on Sunday in the clash against Atlético in the Metropolitan. At the moment, he already has Iñaki Peña, who obtained the professional record (he will wear the 13) after hours of uncertainty.
He asked that the ‘nine’, who is the top scorer in the League (13 goals in 15 games) while demanding from the rest of his attacking partners (Dembélé, Ansu Fati, Ferran, Raphinha and Memphis add 12 between them) a better aim.
“We have to improve in many aspects and one of them is effectiveness”, Xavi stressed, lamenting the offensive drop experienced by his team in the last four league games (six goals alone) indicating that “Robert is not always going to be successful for what everyone should improve, not only the other forwards but the second line, the arrival of the interiors, the strategy…”.
Araujo, owner
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Only Lewandowski and Pedri, who had a lot of accumulated wear and tear between the World Cup and Barça, are released from stepping on Rico Pérez tonight, the Hercules stadium that Intercity has borrowed to experience the most important game of their short life.
Xavi wants to minimize all possible risks, taking his debut in the Cup as a springboard for players like Araujo, who has been injured for three months, or Eric García, who did not play for a minute in the last World Cup or in the derby. ·Ronald has leadership, a lot of soul, he is a warrior”, said the coach indicating that today there will also be “important minutes” for Pablo Torre, a young insider (19 years old) who, according to Xavi, is “from the first team”. But It does not play up or down. Who will not move is the market either. “I do not want anyone to leave,” he said.