The hardships, suffering and hardships of the Champions League and the sword of Damocles of an elimination are parked in the League. In the championship, Barcelona is transformed. Everything comes out easier, more natural, it goes from strength to strength. In Europe, the Blaugrana are third in the group. In the League, Xavi Hernández's team defends the lead, has won six in a row, Lewandowski is top scorer and has only conceded one goal. Another story, another song.
Barça has a key duel on the horizon against Inter on Wednesday at the Camp Nou. Decisive for prestige, for the project and even for the economy. And in a week the classic will arrive, at the Bernabeu, where very recently they won 1-4. But the Barcelona coach intends to maintain order, he doesn't want anyone to get lost in the League, where things go smoothly for him. “I have told the footballers that before Inter there is Celta”, he clarified. "We don't think about the classic or Inter. These days of training we have psyched ourselves up at Celta. We are 100% focused”, he explained, with the aim of maintaining the winning path in the regularity championship.
“We have to remake ourselves. We play in front of our people and after the defeat we have to react”, she harangued. Because beating Celta means arriving first at the Bernabeu and facing Inter with extra confidence.
“We became leaders and we want to continue being leaders. It is the League and we give it the greatest importance, ”she pointed out. It is not for less after 91 days without tasting the leadership. Barça had not been at the top since June 22, 2020. Five days later they lost first place and did not regain it until more than two years later. He lost his head precisely against Celta in Vigo with a goal from Aspas, a free kick, in minute 87. The Galicians will be missing their coach, Coudet, in Argentina for personal reasons.
Xavi doesn't want it to happen to him like Setién. That is why he asks to forget the nearest future but also the recent past. The Egarense coach turned the page of the controversial arbitration in Milan, with a goal disallowed and a penalty not awarded. “We are outraged, we still think it was an injustice. But we have decided not to make a formal complaint. I already complained. We don't gain anything by looking back."
On the other hand, Xavi does consider it appropriate to talk about football's shortcomings. It is a cyclical debate in Can Barça the difficulties to attack the defenses of five. Two games against Mallorca (0-1) and Inter (1-0) were enough for the concern to return to Can Barça. Xavi, who gets De Jong back, admits he is working on it and asks his players to be more daring and even a bit of improvisation to surprise. “We didn't have a great match neither in Mallorca nor in Milan. We have to shoot more when it's time, we have to dare more on the wing, take the last pass. We have to improve, cause more things on the edge of the area. Sometimes you have to get out of the script and the marked path that they give you. We have to generate more ”, he asked his players for a point of imagination. Because in the three games in which he has not seen Lewandowski, Barça has not been able to score or, of course, win.
On the other hand, in defense, without three centre-backs, he fully trusts Piqué: “Gerard is one of the strongest footballers mentally that I have met in my career. I am happy with the veterans. They command the locker room and they are going to be important, ”he stressed. He returns the best version of Barça, Barça returns from the League.
