In Naples, Xavi’s Barça issued the first forceful message in Europe (2-4), in the second level of footballing Europe after its two initial setbacks, the 0-0 with Benfica that kicked him out of the elite and the cruel 3-0 with which Bayern Munich shook the coach and placed Barcelona in the basement. In Istanbul, Xavi’s Barça managed to survive by coming back from a game it had lost (1-2). Bundesliga-, although its present does not invite optimism because it wanders through no man’s territory since it occupies ninth place.
???? Xavi: “Relaxing would be a very big mistake. Attitude can never be lacking”
???? LIVE: https://t.co/rhTX8z0hq7#EintrachtBarça pic.twitter.com/iS8ozv5ZPt
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) April 6, 2022
But the club from Lower Saxony has a fan base that is as faithful as it is enthusiastic, capable of reaching almost 300,000 requests for tickets to see the rebuilt Barça team. But they only fit 48,000 due to UEFA regulations that prohibit supporters from standing. “We will have to match their extra motivation or they will pass us over”, stressed Xavi yesterday, excited “because coming to Germany is always a luxury”.
Memphis, baja
A luxury, as the coach recalled, despite the fact that Eintracht is not one of the great powers of reborn German football, ruled dictatorially by Bayern Munich. “We haven’t had any luck in the draw,” the Barça coach said on three occasions, recalling that tonight they face a unique team “that plays differently, with three central defenders and long wingers, which is very physical and, Plus, they make the transitions in four or five seconds.”
Xavi is alert (“praise cannot confuse us”), aware that he will live his debut at Eintracht’s home without the burden of all or nothing -it was nothing- with Benfica or the drama that he will never forget in Munich that confronted him to their own demons. He will not have Memphis, who stayed in Barcelona as he is suffering from muscular discomfort, nor will he have a specific right back: Alves is not registered and Dest is still injured.
“A roller coaster”
Barça arrives packed, shortening in the League so many positions (in November it was ninth, in April it is second) that the way to be in the next edition of the Champions League has been paved. Not even in his best moment as Barça coach is Xavi calm. “This is a roller coaster. And as a coach you have to know how to manage all this and be balanced, the players, too,” he stressed, emphasizing on several occasions that “Eintracht may not be as well known as other teams, but it is very well organized and play with a different system,” he specified.
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“They already hit us in the semi-finals and as favourites, but it will be hard”, commented the coach, happy because Araujo’s renewal is “almost closed”, something that, however, he cannot say with Dembélé’s, a “fundamental player” on your system. “I hope he decides to stay. I don’t know what else to say about Ousmane. If he stays we will be a better team next season, but we are not in the best financial situation in history. He is being exemplary and I already said it on the first day, well worked can be the best in the world in his position”, he stressed, again.
The technician is calm, but expectant. Europe’s first level could not be enjoyed at any time, tortured as Barça was before the winter market. The Europe of the second step is more comfortable and even more so after those five signings, including the return of the injured Pedri. But he is suspicious of these endless flattery because he looks out on an unknown German wall.