Xavi aspires to win his first Champions League match. After a bad experience last season, recently arrived as he was on the Barça bench, the coach ran into Benfica first at Camp Nou (0-0) and then Bayern in Munich (3-0). Now, Xavi returns to Germany, but with a completely new team, also having Lewandowski, the differential part. In December he wore the Bayern jacket; now the azulgrana looks proud. “I am hopeful, but with a very low profile”, underlined the Barça coach, who has already drawn the starting eleven, but did not want to reveal it.
“Winning or losing does not mean that a sentence should be made. It does not change anything. It is a challenge to win here. Tomorrow is the moment of truth, every day it is for Barça”, stressed the Barça coach, lowering the “expectations ” about that duel with Bayern. “We can’t get our chests out, we must come with a lot of humility, last year we had a bad time, very bad”, the coach acknowledged.
???? Xavi analyzes the #BayernBarca pic.twitter.com/cwYH1gOF4o
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) September 12, 2022
“Show a lot of personality”
“We cannot draw conclusions, nine months have passed and everything looks different. We arrived at a better time than then, we have improved many aspects and we feel capable of competing”, recognized Xavi, who explained that he has experienced “both sides of coin” with Bayern, so “you have to show a lot of personality”
“We cannot draw conclusions, nine months have passed and everything looks different. We arrived at a better time than then, we have improved many aspects”
Xavi, Barça coach
“There were good times for Barça and for them. We’ve only won twice, I didn’t know this fact, but I did know that we’ve never won in Munich, although I think we’re capable of doing it”.
Later, Xavi praised Nagelsmann (“he’s a great coach, his team puts fantastic pressure on you”) without wanting to assess whether his colleague is under suspicion for this poor start in the Bundesliga, where he has conceded three draws. “I am surprised that he is questioned,” he commented.
“I have seen Lewandowski well. He is calm, motivated, very motivated. He is a natural leader. He rested the other day and will be very fresh”
Xavi, coach of Barça
“What game do I envision? An even game, we both suffer without the ball, it will be very intense in which there will be a very strong fight to have the ball, I see it as aggressive”, explained the Barcelona coach, imagining the landscape that can be found this Tuesday at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
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But Xavi has Lewandowski. “I have seen him well, calm, motivated, very motivated. He is a natural leader. He rested the other day and will be very fresh,” he said about the Polish striker, demanding that Barça “show personality to compete against one of the best world teams”.
He doesn’t forget what happened in December 2021. “I told my players that this is Barça, that you should go out without complexes, that you should run. Now we have gained in mentality and personality, changing many players.”