Barcelona eliminated; Xavi is justified

Xavi Hernández, coach of Barcelona, ​​assured this Thursday, after being eliminated in the Europa League after losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford (2-1), that his team is “much better than last season”.

In the academic year 2021/22. Barcelona was eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage after competing with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv. Later in the Europa League, they managed to eliminate Napoli and Galatasaray to end their competition adventure in the quarter-finals after losing to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Now for Xavi, the season in Europe is “much better” after the defeat in the group stage of the Champions League (he played for Bayern, Inter and Viktoria Plzen) and the round of 16 of the Europa League.

“The feeling that we were much better than last season. We showed our face. We played against Bayern, Inter and Manchester. We didn’t give status against these opponents. Next year let’s be more competitive, let’s be critical ourselves and now let’s focus on the League and Cup, which are very important,” he told Movistar Plus.

Xavi pointed out that the Brazilian Fred’s goal at the beginning of the second half was crucial in the match they lost 2-1 at Old Trafford:

“That goal hurts us; in the shared ball that we lose. It cost us in the second half. They invested a lot of intensity. The first half was very good. The tie was very even here and there. We pressed in the End and it could not be. “We played against an opponent who is in fantastic form and it’s a shame for us. We competed very well and showed our face at every moment,” he said.

“Physically, they are very strong. In the second goal, Shaw wins the duel, rebounds fall to Antony and the second goal as well. That goal hurt us a lot. Without the tie so quickly, we would have controlled more. We showed our faces and deserved a little more,” he added. is.

For Xavi, the only positive point of the defeat is that there is another league game waiting for him on Sunday, in which he will regain the taste of victory. We have to focus on Almeria and the semifinals of the Cup, which are very important competitions for us, he concluded.

On the other hand, Xavi Hernández, the coach of Barcelona, ​​confirmed that the Uruguayan national team player Ronald Araujo has nothing important and that he will be available to play on Sunday against Almeria.

Araujo left the field ten minutes from the end of the game that Barcelona lost to Manchester United this Thursday and which meant the European elimination of the Blaugrana.

“Araujo will be available on Sunday. I preferred to be careful because I saw that it was played,” admitted Xavi