Xavi Hernandez has lost five matches in the Champions League group stage since he was appointed the manager of Barcelona.
While Xavi Hernandez has been impressive in La Liga for the club, the same cannot be said for the club in the Champions League.
The former Barcelona midfielder guided the club to the La Liga title last season but has failed to dominate the European scene.
However, that made it five losses for the legend-turned-manager since he took over at the club, with no Barcelona manager losing five group stage matches before.
After watching his team lose the Champions League match 1-0 to Shakhtar in Hamburg on Tuesday, Xavi was not at all pleased with the players in his squad.
Without holding back, Xavi talked about how shocking it was that his team lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
“We haven’t played a good game. Nothing has gone as planned. We wanted to confirm the classification but it is a clear step backward,” he said.
“The Champions League demands the highest level but we have not found it. We are angry. We could not fail and we have failed. It’s a big mistake on our part.”
The Spanish coach tried to get his squad going in the second half by making four substitutions, but his attackers were not up to par and his team only managed one shot on target.
“We have not understood what the game required. We have not attacked well. We have not defended that lateral center well and mistakes are costly,” Xavi added.
Xavi added: “There was attitude and intensity in the second half but we couldn’t get the result. The reaction has been good but insufficient. The small details are taking their toll on us.”
“I’ve got work to do on the training ground. We aren’t pressing well enough, we aren’t concentrating well enough. But it’s not time for the players to lose confidence. It’s time to win it back. The players need to step up.”
The goal for the Catalans and the boss will be to prevent missing the Champions League knockouts for a third consecutive season.
The manager quickly drew attention away from their Group H rivals, adding: “I’m not worried about the Porto game because we continue to depend on ourselves to qualify and I’m not thinking about anything else.”
“At the moment the main thing is to recover for the game against Alaves. My job is for the players to regain confidence and dynamism,” Xavi continued.
“We have played very good games this season, now we are in a low moment and we have to recover the previous sensations.”
Xavi Hernandez
Xavier Hernández Creus was born on 25th, January 1980 and he is commonly referred to as Xavi.
He is currently a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Barcelona.
Xavi is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He is renowned for his passing, vision, ball possession, and positioning.
Xavi took the coaching path after retiring from active football, and he was named the manager at Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd in May 2019, where he won seven titles within the space of 3 years.
Coming back home, Xavi was named Head Coach of Barcelona – the team that gave him a name – in November 2021.
