In exactly two months, on June 1, two teams will take to the grass at Wembley Stadium to play the Champions League final, the match that will close the 2023-24 season at the club level. Among the eight teams that aspire to be there is Xavi Hernández's Barcelona, which in the next nine weeks will play for the two most important titles of the season. The Blaugrana team arrives with good feelings into the final and decisive stretch of the year.
The eleven games they have played without defeat have placed the Barcelona fans second in the League and four games away from the final of the highest continental competition. The coach has been able to overcome an irregular game, a terrible month of January with three almost consecutive disappointments and even injuries to key players – De Jong, Pedri and Christensen are in the infirmary right now – to have Barça fight until the end. final to lift a trophy. It has merit since we must not forget that it has been a year in which the project has faltered. In fact, Xavi himself has announced that he will not continue, a decision that can still be revoked.
The great endorsement of the man from Terrassa is the harmony he has with the squad, which has always been by his side, in good times and bad. But also the step forward that he has taken in Europe, after two premature and painful goodbyes in the Champions League and two anesthetized eliminations from the Europa League.
Where Barcelona has always shown its face has been in the Spanish League. The numbers with Xavi have allowed the club to compete head-to-head against Madrid and brilliantly become champions last season. His knowledge of his rivals, his command of the areas and his excellent performance away from home have propelled the Blaugrana team to notable consistency in the domestic tournament despite being the first post-Messi Barça.
The Egarense has added 208 points in the 94 days that he has led the Barcelona fans, which gives an average of 2.2 points since he sat on the Camp Nou bench for the first time on November 20, 2021... and after Montjuïc.
This season they have only lost three games (Real Madrid, Girona, Villarreal), three setbacks at home that hamper them in the standings, but they are still in a position to surpass the 88 points that earned them the 2022-23 title. With 8 games left, it seems clear that, with 61 goals, he will surpass the 70 goals of the last League.
Xavi's announcement, which coincided with some tactical tweaks, with the explosion of Cubarsí and with the reappearance of Ter Stegen, has motivated the locker room. Since then, Barcelona has eight wins and three draws. A streak among all competitions that includes four consecutive wins, in addition to almost 500 minutes without conceding a goal in the League.
The coach has recovered captain Sergi Roberto for the cause and has given confidence and ownership to players like Fermín and Raphinha who are responding. The step forward is collective and can be seen in the diversity of danger in the last games. Not only could you depend on the inspiration of Lamine Yamal, at 16 years old. The last eight goals have been scored by six scorers, with Lewandowski appearing on big days like against Napoli and Atlético, two victories that raised morale.
After beating Las Palmas, coming from the dreaded national team break, the coach now has ten days to prepare only for the first leg of the quarterfinals in Paris against PSG. Barça, which hopes to recover all those injured except the long-term ones Gavi and Balde, feels more than prepared to compete. Also at the Bernabéu on the 21st. It is the final sprint.
