Objective is to win Champions League but Europa League is our reality now, admits Xavi Hernandez
Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has revealed that while the club’s objective has always been to win the Champions League, their reality is the Europa League and they need to win that. This comes after the La Liga giants were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages.
With Barcelona walking in Matchday 6 needing not just a win but also Benfica to lose, it saw the clubface Bayern Munich. But despite the situation and their requirements, the Bavarians proved far too strong a side to beat with them walking out as 3-0 winners. Not just that, Benfica proceeded to beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 to seal the second spot behind Bayern in the group and condemned Barcelona to the Europa League.
It’s the first time since the 2003/04 season that the La Liga giants won’t be in the Champions League knockout stages and the first time since then that they’ll be playing Europa League football. That has come as a big knock to their fans, players and manager as Xavi admitted that the club needs to demand more going forward. He also added that things need to change because while this is the club’s reality, they need to “change the dynamic”.
"Bayern dominated us. We always want to dominate but it was the opposite here. We must demand more. We're Barca. This must be a point of inflection to change the dynamic and many more things. This is the Champions League, but this is also our reality. It's the situation we're in. I'm angry.
“This is the reality and it pisses me off. We have to tackle it face on. There's nothing else for it. A new era starts today. We start from zero. Our objective is the Champions League, not the Europa League but that is our reality now and we have to try and win it."
"I've seen how tough the reality is. I hoped we would compete better. Bayern are better. That's the reality. But we're going to work hard and give our all so that this doesn't happen again. It's a feeling of helplessness.
"We have to start to get Barca back where they belong, which is not in the Europa League. This is also a hammer blow for me as a coach. We will work hard to bring Barca back, but we have to change a lot, of course."
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