Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez has been quoted as saying he is “angry” following their UEFA Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich and that the current squad isn’t good enough.
Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez “angry” after UCL loss to Bayern Munich. The match ended 8-2 in favor of the Bavarian giants.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez hopes the club’s early elimination from the Champions League will serve as a turning point and the start of a new era at Camp Nou.
Bayern Munich won 3-0 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, condemning Barcelona to the Europa League in the new year thanks to goals from Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane, and Jamal Musiala.
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The Catalan club will not be in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time since 2003-04, when they were in the UEFA League. They have won the tournament five times.
Xavi, who took over as coach from Ronald Koeman in November, said that the defeat in Munich served as a wake-up call to the magnitude of the work before of him.
He said, “Bayern overpowered us.” “We usually want to be the boss, but it was the complete reverse here.” More must be demanded. We’re Barca, and we’re here to help. This must be a turning moment in order to alter the dynamic and many other factors.
“This is the Champions League, but it’s also our reality,” says the player. It’s the circumstance we’ve found ourselves in. I’m enraged. This is the truth, and it irritates me. We must confront it head-on. There isn’t any other option.
“Today is the dawn of a new age. We begin from the beginning. Our goal is to win the Champions League, not the Europa League, but that is where we are right now, so we must attempt to win it.”
Xavi’s return to Barcelona as coach started out well, with two victories and a draw, but the loss to Bayern came following a 1-0 setback at home to Real Betis in LaLiga over the weekend, leaving Barca in seventh place.
“I’ve witnessed firsthand how difficult reality can be,” Xavi said. “I thought we’d be able to compete more effectively.” Bayern is a superior team. That is the truth. But we’ll work hard and give it our best to ensure that this never happens again. It’s a sense of powerlessness.
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During Barcelona’s UCL defeat to Bayern Munich, Xavi Hernandez yells instructions to his teammates. courtesy of Getty Images
“We must begin the process of returning Barcelona to their rightful place in the league, which is not in the Europa League. As a coach, this is also a hammer blow. We’ll put in a lot of effort to bring Barca back, but we’ll have to make a lot of changes first.”
Since winning the Champions League in 2015, Barca’s performance has deteriorated dramatically. Since then, they’ve lost to Paris Saint-Germain twice, Juventus once, AS Roma once, and Liverpool once.
Bayern, on the other hand, has trounced them 8-2, 3-0, and 3-0 in their past three encounters.
Bayern player Thomas Muller, who scored the game’s first goal on Wednesday, said, “I don’t believe Barca can handle with the intensity.” “They have it everything in terms of technical ability, as well as strong tactical and technical players. They, on the other hand, are unable to deal with the intensity of top-level football.”
Muller scored the first goal in the 34th minute, and Sane added the second goal from distance shortly before halftime in a one-sided match. After fantastic work from Alphonso Davies, Musiala scored the third goal in the second half.
Bayern had already qualified for the last-16 as group winners, but the result means that they proceed with a perfect record for just the second time in their history.
Benfica, who defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-0 on Wednesday to go ahead of Barca into second place in Group E, will join them in the knockout rounds.
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