Ain’t no rest for Barcelona, as matches continue to come hard and fast. Tomorrow, they host Cadiz at the Camp Nou for the gameweek 32 of La Liga.
Despite being knocked out of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt, Xavi and co. face a difficult week ahead with three matches in the span of less than seven days.
Ahead of the Cadiz game, Xavi was questioned about the Frankurt ticketing fiasco, injuries, and their game-plan for the rest of the season. All quotes in this thread by Barça Universal.
On the ticket scandal vs Frankfurt: “We want our fans to come and cheer for the team. What happened in the last match cannot be repeated.”
“We have not talked yet about what happened in the stands in the last game. An investigation has been opened, and I hope that measures will be taken so that it does not happen again.”
“As soon as the results of the investigation is announced, we will be informed of it, and the media as well. What happened is our fault.”
On their performances: “I think we played well against Levante and Frankfurt. But we were missing out on dealing with second balls. We have to keep believing in what we are doing.”
“We have to play the same way like we did at the Bernabeu, or vs Napoli.”
On the team morale: “It was a shock because we wanted to win the Europa League. But we have to recover and back ourselves.”
On Pedri’s injury: “Without a doubt, he’s going through a tough time now. He’s been doing really well during the season. The most important thing is for him is to recover from his injury, but what happened is part of the sport.”
On Pique’s injury: “It’s not an injury as much it is the discomfort he’s been experiencing lately. There is nothing to worry about.”
On La Liga: “We will face complicated teams in the league. Tomorrow Cadiz, and we have Sociedad and Rayo later, who are fighting relegation. There are difficult weeks ahead, we have to continue to compete.”
“We are still fighting for the league, even if it is difficult. I told the players that they should be proud of what they did. We always explain to them the things that have been done wrong, and the ways in which we have to improve.”
On the Real Madrid-Seville game: “I will watch the match today. But for me, I want to analyse the level of Cadiz as well.”
“Real Madrid losing today? We have to win before we see the results of our opponents. We have to keep working. Our first goal is to qualify for the Champions League.”
On possible improvements: “We have to improve in terms of the way we start games. When we concede goals, things become more complicated for us.”
On the Frankfurt game: “I had a bad feeling after we left the hotel for the Frankfurt game. There were people throwing things at us, and we had to enter the stadium through a different gate. Then we conceded the early goal, I had a negative feeling.”
“Barcelona fans supported us in the past matches, they encourages and supported us even after we conceded goals. But that did not happen in the last game.”
On Clement Lenglet: “I believe in him. I believe in everyone because they are all training well and with commitment. I see him as a guarantee in our defence.”
On Barcelona’s problems playing vs a back-five: “We beat teams that play this backline. Osasuna, for example. It’s about the spaces we find, and our finishing. We had a lot of chances vs Frankfurt, but we did not take advantage of it.”
On the Barcelona DNA: “We won five Champions League with the Barcelona DNA. We are not going to change our philosophy after just one loss.”
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