FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has hit back at criticism from the media and called this weekend’s match against Valencia a ‘final’ at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Club legend Xavi is currently under the most scrutiny he has experienced since taking over from Ronald Koeman in November 2021.
In spring the former number 6 was the hero of the hour after delivering the Super Cup and a first La Liga crown in four years.
Fast forward to the present, however, and the 43-year-old is on the chopping block for two consecutive defeats and four in the Blaugrana’s past five outings despite guaranteeing qualification to the Champions League knockout phases after back-to-back failures.
“If they [Royal Antwerp] had knocked us out of the Champions League, I would have understood,” a defiant Xavi said. “But they didn’t.”
“We’ve got the league [to play for], [and] it’s true that we have to improve and add more – the Super Cup and the Copa Del Rey. I don’t get it. It’s time to come together, to believe in the project. It’s the most complicated club in the world because of its entorno (environment).”
Adding more on the entorno, Xavi revealed that he receives messages “as if it were a funeral, as if my father or mother had died”.
“None of you congratulated me in the last press conference for qualifying [for the last 16]. This is the unreality that I see. If the season ends excellently, then what? We’re going to be having a hard time or be depressed… But it’s all to play for. On the day of Atletico [Madrid] we were a 10 and now we are a zero.”
Xavi reiterated that an “unreality is being told” as per media coverage of Barca and their displays. “A tension is being generated that is unnecessary for us. We’re in the race to win four titles.”
With Barca currently seven off the chase, the coach called Saturday’s match at Valencia a “final because we need points”.
“In La Liga we are not where we should be,” he accepted, on the defending champions’ fourth place. “The defeats against Madrid and Girona weighed on us and are affecting us.”
“Tomorrow is very important against a complicated and tough opponent. [Ruben] Baraja is doing an extraordinary job.
“They have taken a step forward, the Mestalla is putting pressure [on visitors] even though they have one point out of 12. It’s a final and that’s how we’re going into it,” Xavi vowed.
