At halftime of their match in opposition to Alaves on Sunday, Barcelona gave the impression to be staring catastrophe within the face as they have been behind by a purpose to newly promoted Alaves. A brace from Robert Lewandowski was ready to make sure that Barcelona did not drop back-to-back video games however fear nonetheless stays about their general type in a good La Liga title race. Xavi’s males are already behind league leaders Girona by 4 factors and two factors behind Actual Madrid whereas Atletico Madrid are on their heels.
Seeking to retain the La Liga crown, the begin to the season hasn’t been ok however Xavi spoke following the match that his staff is struggling to deal with exterior stress that’s heaped upon them. With Gavi, Pedri, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal all turning into common members of the beginning rotation, Barcelona’s youth has been their energy however with such a younger staff, that energy can be their downfall.
“No doubt what the media say impacts how the staff performs,” Xavi mentioned following the match. “The [media] create conditions and eventualities that, for me, are usually not actual. And it impacts, with none doubt, the staff. It occurred to me as a participant and it is occurring to my gamers. There’s a negativity which isn’t good or constructive in any respect.”
“Above all, it impacts the youngest gamers. You see [Iñigo] Martínez, Lewandowski, [João] Cancelo and Gundogan, it doesn’t have an effect on them. However we now have plenty of children and we now have to guard them and provides them confidence. [The performances] are our fault, in fact, however the children really feel a stress {that a} month in the past did not exist. It’s a tough scenario that we now have to handle, but it surely’s arduous, particularly after conceding an early purpose.”
Whereas that is fairly sincere to listen to from the Barcelona supervisor, he hit the nail on the pinnacle that he has been somebody who went by this stage of exterior stress as a participant. Regardless of accidents, as a supervisor, he has to place his staff in the very best place doable to succeed even when it implies that all of them should not begin collectively.
Lewandowski’s objectives will assist because the Polish attacker had gone six consecutive appearances for Barcelona with out discovering the again of the web. Xavi and the younger gamers want this Lewandowski constantly in any other case Barcelona’s title hopes will not be greater than a dream, however blocking out the exterior noise may also be crucial as we hit the midway level.
