Xavi Hernandez defended Barcelona‘s season and the progress made under him in the face of criticism following Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semifinal defeat to Real Madrid.
Barca followed up Champions League and Europa League exits with a 4-0 loss to Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou to raise doubts about the team’s ability to compete on the biggest occasions.
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However, with the Spanish Super Cup already won — Barca beat Madrid in the final — and the chance to move 15 points clear at the top of LaLiga with victory over Girona on Monday, Xavi said people are minimising the Blaugrana’s success.
“We are talking about winning LaLiga,” Xavi said in a news conference on Sunday. “I don’t get it. Winning LaLiga is the bee’s knees. We have won five Champions Leagues in our history, which is really good, but it is demanded that we win it?
“Winning LaLiga brings stability. I remember [former Madrid coach Zinedine] Zidane said after winning the Champions League that the objective was to win LaLiga. From the inside, we value really highly what we are doing against a really strong Madrid. Winning LaLiga is being minimised when for us it will be extraordinary.”
Barca were ninth in LaLiga when Xavi took the job at the end of 2021 and won just one Copa del Rey in the three seasons prior to this term, while not lifting the league title since 2019.
