Despite ending the Spanish Football League with a 0-2 home defeat to Villarreal, Barcelona coach Javi Hernández was pleased with what happened at the end of the season, with the Catalan club finishing in second place despite being 13 behind the opposition. points. Real Madrid crowned the title.
Some may scorn this capitulatory position of the 2010 world champion, but what was given out by the former Blaugrana star is the case if the club’s fans go back in time to early November, when the team was in ninth place led by the Dutchman. Ronald Koeman.
The position of the team has improved significantly since the previous Al Sadd manager took on the task of supervising a team that shone as a player in its ranks and crowned with him all the major titles, including eight in the Spanish League, four in the League champions, two in the Club World Cup and three in the local cup.
True, the 42-year-old football player could not save the Catalan team from the Champions League group stage, and then from the quarter-finals of the Europa League “Europa League” or retain the title of champion of the local cup, but his leadership in the league qualification and with it the guarantee of participation in the League champions is considered an achievement for a team that has been greatly weakened after the loss of its absolute star, the Argentine Lionel, at Paris Saint-Germain.
After a minor loss to Villarreal on Sunday, Xavi said: “The season has been very long for us. We didn’t finish the job, but we achieved our goals and took second place.”
And continued: “Now we are done with football and will start the administrative work”, referring to the work to strengthen the team for next season, talking about the settlement of the contract with the Danish Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen after he had previously signed a contract with midfielder Côte d’ Ivoire Frank Kessier as a player and is also free after the expiration of his contract with AC Milan.
There are rumors of his ambition to include two players also from Chelsea, two of his compatriot defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, as well as French defender of his local rivals Sevilla Jules Condé, with Polish striker Robert Lewandowski set to be the biggest deal ever . if this happens after the latter has decided not to continue traveling with Bayern Munich.
Xavi talked about the need to “change a lot of things to try to be competitive and be able to fight for titles. We can’t go another season without titles.”
“But we have to remain optimistic: we saved an almost disastrous season. Personally, I am pleased that we have come out of the worst stages in the history of the club, ”he stressed.
