Xavi
BARCELONA COACH Xavi Hernandez wants the club’s early Champions League (CL) exit to serve as a point of inflection and the start of a new era at Camp Nou.
Goals from Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala earned Bayern Munich a 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday and condemned Barca to a place in the Europa League in the New Year.
It’s the first time since 2003 and 2004, when Barca was in the UEFA League, that the Catalan club will not be in the knockout stages of the Champions League, a competition they have won five times.
Xavi, who replaced Ronald Koeman as coach in November, conceded that the loss in Munich served as a wake-up call to the scale of the task facing him.
“Bayern dominated us,” he said. “We always want to dominate but it was the opposite here. We must demand more. We’re Barca. This must be a point of inflection to change the dynamic and many more things.
“This is the Champions League, but this is also our reality. It’s the situation we’re in. I’m angry. This is the reality and it pisses me off. We have to tackle it face on. There’s nothing else for it” he emphasised adding “A new era starts today. We start from zero. Our objective is the Champions League, not the Europa League but that is our reality now and we have to try and win it.”
Xavi’s return to Barcelona as coach began with two wins and a draw, but the defeat to Bayern came after a 1-0 reverse at home to Real Betis in LaLiga at the weekend, which left Barca languishing in seventh in the table.