Xavi Hernandez: Barca are the hardest club in the world to coach

Xavi Hernandez: Barca are the hardest club in the world to coach

| sport

The Catalan giants' manager spoke about his side's win over Real Madrid and the criticism he's faced

Xavi Hernández did not mince his words in his pre-match press conference ahead of Barça's game against Valencia and responded to the criticism the team received from Madrid for their play in last Thursday's Copa del Rey Clasico. 

Despite FC Barcelona winning 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu with Militao's own goal, there has been more talk in the capital about how Barça played than the result which favours the Cules for the return leg. "I see that there has been a stir. Barça is the most difficult club in the world, you beat Real Madrid 0-1 and it's not convincing and if it's the other way around it's a national celebration," said the coach.

Xavi added: "I said it last year and I got the shit kicked out of me. At Barça you have to win and convince, and that's our objective. But the opposition are the reigning LaLiga and Champions League champions, and if they put pressure on you it's difficult. It's a question of understanding football. To talk about possession when they play you one-on-one is absurd. We didn't set up in Barcelona's area to be in a low block, Real Madrid put us there. This is football.

Barça had far less of the ball throughout the 90 minutes and Xavi was accused of being more 'Cholista' than ever, something the Barça coach criticised last season. It is worth noting that Xavi was without three key members of the squad for this game: Pedri, Lewandowski and Dembélé. 

Xavi repeated repeatedly that Barça "is the most difficult club in the world, without a doubt". We have to win and convince. There is a very clear idea of the game and if you don't do it they are not so satisfied. We won on a difficult pitch. But I was more satisfied on the day of the Super Cup than in the Cup. I like to win by being the protagonist and dominating, but that's football," he concluded.

On 19 March, a new Clasico will be played. Barça will host Real Madrid at Camp Nou in La Liga before the second leg of the Copa del Rey, which will be played on 5 April to decide the second ticket to the final.

Topics with the letter