The players found out about Xavi's announcement on Saturday when they were on their way home. They didn't know anything. On Sunday they heard the coach's reasons for his goodbye on June 30 and also received a visit from the president in the locker room of the sports city. And this Monday the footballers, after training, have decided to all meet for lunch to face the end of the season with strength and encouragement.
The meal, organized by the staff, was held at the home of Robert Lewandowski, one of the organizers of the meeting. Neither Xavi nor any member of the coaching staff has attended. It is, therefore, an initiative by and for the players.
As La Vanguardia has learned, Xavi's coaching staff sees this meeting as a good sign. One of the points that the Egarense seeks with his announcement is to reinforce the unity of the squad. This is what he told him in the talk on Sunday. A message that resonated with the footballers, who this Monday wanted to get together and conspire.
After Saturday's defeat, Barcelona is 11 points behind the League leader, 10 behind Madrid and has fallen to fourth place, tied with Atlético. With 17 games left, the possibility of revalidating the champion title is almost impossible, so the first step must be to secure the Champions League and see if runners-up can be reached. The idea is that in Vitoria, next Saturday, another image of the team will be seen.
The emotional blow of Xavi's surprising and surprising announcement is added to the defeats in the Super Cup and the Copa del Rey but the footballers want to show that they were and are with the coach. Furthermore, there are four months of competition left and the objective, as Joan Laporta stressed, is to go far in the Champions League, a tournament that distributes good prizes. On February 21, the first leg of the round of 16 will be played in Naples, a round that Barça had not reached for two consecutive seasons.
