Xavi talks Barcelona captains, Kounde, Alonso, Laporta, and Vinicius ahead of El Clasico | OneFootball

Icon: Barca Universal

Barca Universal

·15 October 2022

Xavi talks Barcelona captains, Kounde, Alonso, Laporta, and Vinicius ahead of El Clasico

Article image:Xavi talks Barcelona captains, Kounde, Alonso, Laporta, and Vinicius ahead of El Clasico

Xavi has fared well enough against Real Madrid, so far, in his admittedly short stint as Barcelona coach. He lost the first of the two Clasicos 2-3 he coached in the Spanish Super Cup, but managed to leave that behind with a staggering 0-4 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in the league.

He faces a fresh challenge tomorrow, though, as a demotivated Barça get ready to lock horns against their arch-rivals at the Bernabeu. Xavi spoke to the media ahead of the early title-decider as part of his pre-game press conference.


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On the game: “Last season we reached El Clasico in a bad shape. Today, we reach El Clasico and we are the top of the league.”

“El Clasico is three points. It’s also an important match to get a morale boost.”

“Our goal is to win the Clasico and to play the way we believe in. Pressure, attack with intensity.”

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On the criticism of Barcelona captains: “I’m trying to listen to all the criticism. But I don’t focus too much on that. I focus on the work. We should not have lost or drawn in matches like the ones that happened. We have to keep working to win tomorrow.”

On the team’s poor form: “I still insist that we are on the right track. We have scored 20 goals in the league, conceded only one. We are better than we used to be. It is true that we have to improve in Europe, but that is the case with every newly started project.”

“We are playing better in the league. Tomorrow is going to be a tough match, and we have to work on winning it.”

“I’m a Barcelona fan. I want the best for the club. If I feel I can no longer do anything, I will go home. But for now, that’s fine.”

On Jules Kounde: “He is 100% ready, is training well, and will be ready for tomorrow’s match.”

On Sergio Busquets: “He’s an important player for us. The last game, he had problems in the second half, but he is the captain, and he is a Barcelona player. Every player on the team has to be ready to play.”

On Marcos Alonso playing as a CB: “Anything is possible. Alonso played as a centee-back, we will decide on it tomorrow. It has nothing to do with Vinicius only, but with Benzema, Kroos, and the rest of the players. They have a strong team.”

On Joan Laporta’s confidence: “There is still a lot left in the season. The president also continues to be optimistic. He is always positive, and helps us. What happened against Inter was unfortunate, and in Munich and Milan as well. It should not have happened, but we have to go on our own way.”

“We have not talked about my continuity.”

On El Clasico: “I love playing vs Real Madrid. I’m a competitive player, and I always love to play matches like these. Playing El Clasico at the Camp Nou also has a special taste, with the atmosphere of the fans.”

“Maybe it’s not the right phrase, but the atmosphere of the Clasico turns me on, sexually.”

On dealing with Vinicius without Araujo: “Well, we don’t have Araujo, but we have to make some defensive adjustments, with regards to the 1v1 situations. Araujo helped us very well, but we have to prepare against Real Madrid, not Vinicius.”

On playing El Clasico without the ‘captains’: “We’ll see what happens. I see that everyone is focused on the captains only. In the end, we are a team. We have five changes tomorrow, everyone has to be ready.”

On the Inter game: “You could say we needed more physical strength vs Inter. But the truth is, we need to evolve mentally.”

On areas of improvement: “We have to improve our shooting. Alonso, Raphinha, Ousmane can all shoot from distance. It’s a choice, like crosses. Tomorrow, we can do that.”

Source: BarçaTV+

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