FC Barcelona is on its way to Dallas where the Blaugranas will play one last friendly match before the end-of-year holidays. And in the culé plane, the atmosphere is perhaps not very happy. The Catalan club nevertheless beat Almeria on Wednesday evening, but it was a very difficult success to achieve. Trailing 2-1 at half-time, Xavi made two changes, namely the introductions of Jules Koundé and Ferran Torres in place of Christensen and João Félix. It then took a double from Sergi Roberto for Xavi’s gang to win 3-2.
Enough to annoy Xavi. On the 18th day, the Culés are third in the La Liga standings, awaiting the matches of Real Madrid and Girona. Barça has limited the damage, but it no longer has the right to play with fire if it wants to retain its title. And the Catalan coach understood that well. In the hot seat, Xavi gave a good rant against his players during the post-match press conference.
Xavi shakes up his players
“The first period was unacceptable and I told them so. Pressure and aggression were not acceptable. Either we run like animals or it doesn’t come to us. We don’t have the Barça of 2010. Last year we were aggressive and we had soul. We can’t not give our all. Either we give it our all or we won’t gain anything. We must wake up. You can’t point the finger at one player. This is a general problem. The intensity of the first half and the second have nothing to do with each other. Despite everything, we created two or three scoring chances.”he declared, before concluding.
“We must work like animals. I’m not angry. I complained about the lack of soul in my team. The ball is burning and they feel the pressure, but I have to be more demanding with the players while protecting them. Whistles from the audience are normal. I don’t like them and I’ve never whistled in my life, but I understand people. You can’t lack soul. Out of respect for the club and the badge, you always have to give your all and in the first half, that wasn’t the case. It’s my responsibility and it won’t happen again. » The message got through.
