Xavi: 'Barca is under Champions League pressure from the golden generation'
Barca falls into Group H, which is considered easy to breathe in this season's Champions League, with Porto, Shakhtar and Antwerp. According to Xavi, the 5-0 victory over Betis in La Liga last weekend helped the team gain perfect momentum for the continental front when they kick off with the match against Antwerp today.
In the last two seasons, with Xavi on the bench, Barca both stopped from the Champions League group stage. In the 2021-2022 season, the team finished third in the group stage and had to drop to the Europa League - where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt with a total score of 3-4 in the quarterfinals. A similar scenario took place last season, when Barca continued to finish third in the group stage, then lost 3-4 to Man Utd in the Europa League play-offs.
The Catalan coach emphasized that Barca needs to make a leap this season and aim to win top spot in Group H. "We have to get to the 1/8 round, that is the main goal after two years of not being able to do that," Xavi said. at the pre-match press conference.
During his playing days, Xavi and Barca won the Champions League four times in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. The 2009 title was also part of the great sixth cup under coach Pep Guardiola, when the team won the championship. in all participating arenas.
Since the last championship in 2015, Barca has suffered many heavy defeats in the Champions League. In the quarterfinals of the 2017-2018 season, they beat AS Roma 4-1 in the first leg at Camp Nou's home field, but lost 0-3 in the second leg and were eliminated based on the away goals rule. A similar scenario took place a year later, when Barca won 3-0 against Liverpool in the first leg at Camp Nou, but lost 0-4 in the second leg at Anfield and stopped in the semi-finals. But the heaviest defeat was the 2-8 loss to Bayern in the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2020.
When asked about Barca's failures in the European arena recently, Xavi replied: "There are huge demands on us, the standards are also very high because this is Barca. This is a lot of pressure on Barca." last year, from my golden generation. In 10 years, from 2006 to 2015, Barca won four Champions Leagues."
Today's match at Camp Nou is an opportunity for Xavi to face his former teammate Mark van Bommel - the famous Dutch player who is currently the coach of Antwerp. Van Bommel played for Barca in the period 2005-2006, playing with Xavi and Barca's sports director Deco.
Xavi holds many great memories of Van Bommel and praises his former teammate for doing well at Antwerp. The 43-year-old coach evaluates Antwerp as very strong with side attacks and crosses into the penalty area for striker Vincent Janssen, and goalkeeper Jean Butez plays well with his feet.
