Luis Enrique compared Xavi’s Barcelona to Eibar after UCL humiliation | OneFootball

Throughout his time as a manager across various clubs including his stint with the Spain national team, Luis Enrique has never been someone afraid to speak his mind. He has always been open to the media and his candid responses have often enthralled fans.

Since the beginning of last season, Luis Enrique has taken over as the manager of PSG and has since, made some brave calls at the club. He is the man tasked with the responsibility of leading the French giants into a new era, an era without superstars like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr.

Last season, in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Luis Enrique got the chance to face his former team FC Barcelona. The Catalan club emerged 3-2 winners away at Parc des Princes only to lose 4-1 at home and bow out of the competition.

Quotes by Luis Enrique from the documentary ‘You don’t have a f… idea’ streaming on Moviestar + have been emerging in recent weeks and one such quote about Xavi’s Barcelona has piqued the interest of the Blaugrana faithful. As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, here is what the Spanish tactician had to say:

“In Paris, Ter Stegen broke the record for long balls. He sent in 24. If you’re pro-Xavi you talk about the third man, but a normal analyst tells the truth: this is a long ball. They play like Eibar. If this happened in my time, be careful. ‘Get stuck in’, no, the next thing. How the story changes.”

Enrique just did not stop with this. He further went on to highlight the weakness that Xavi’s Barcelona had. He continued:

“Xavi’s Barça is not a good defensive team. It is not a dominant team or a team that plays possession. If this had happened in our time, it would not have been just a criticism, it would have been much worse.”

The final dagger from the ex-coach came in the form of him saying that Ronald Araujo’s sending-off in the second leg had no reflection in the final result of the game. He said:

“They would not have beaten us with 11 or 12,” he commented. Precisely, the 2-3 in favor of Barça in Paris in his view had not reflected what that match was like. The days after were hell. In Paris, it was a letdown for everyone. You are conditioned by the result. If I do the analysis that we do, you leave with the feeling that Barça was better; false.”

Xavi was a player Luis Enrique coached during his time here. Thus, his criticism of the inexperienced tactician’s team comes across as rather harsh. However, as we pointed out earlier, Enrique is never someone afraid to speak his mind.

Hindsight is always a beautiful thing in football and it is easy to say that PSG would have won even if Ronald Araujo had not gotten sent-off in the second leg. It is something we will never know. Not all that Luis Enrique pointed out is false though.

There were times under Xavi when the tactics were puzzling, to say the least. This point is even more accentuated when you consider how Barcelona play under Hansi Flick with an almost similar squad. However, there were memorable results under Xavi too.

Enrique’s time at Barcelona was successful from a trophy sense but the transition from the Pep Guardiola style of football was not easy for fans to take.

Hence, it is understandable that the Spanish tactician feels aggrieved by how the fans are reacting currently. Regardless, we have crossed our Xavi era and Flick’s doing a great job with the team. It’s time to move on and focus on the future.