In the Barça dressing room they dream of the return of the Champions League. The vibrations are very positive, the team has been strengthened and is in tune, the coach is laying the foundations of his philosophy and the first rival should not be an obstacle at the highest level. But unforgettable nightmares have also been experienced in the Camp Nou dressing room in the competition and it is essential to start today with a victory against Viktoria Pilsen (9:00 PM in Movistar Champions League) so that the current aspiration to go very far does not turn into doubts within a group of arms to take. “If I didn't dream of winning the Champions League, I would stay at home enjoying my family. But at the same time you have to be very humble. We haven't won this competition since 2015 and we've just played in the Europa League”, analyzed Xavi Hernández.
The coach mixed yin and yang, illusion and ambition, with prudence and warning. “We want to compete and win the tournament but from there we consider ourselves favourites... There are other great squads”, reasoned the Blaugrana coach, who foresees a very physical and orderly rival.
The normal thing is that all the spaces that Barcelona found in Seville are transformed into heavy traffic against a defensive rival. But winning is basic considering that after the Barcelona team will travel consecutively to Munich and Milan.
A busy calendar that forces you to use the bottom of the wardrobe. This is how Xavi understands it, who announced rotations for tonight. Footballers like Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres or Ansu Fati have numbers to be in the lineup. Xavi gave some clue about the latter. “I spoke with him on Monday and he is ready to play from the first minute. We hope that he enters more, ”said the coach.
Barça attends its first day of the Champions League at home since November 23. Then the coach had only been in office for a few weeks. In this time, Barcelona has changed radically, in terms of confidence and protagonists. One of the new players is Jules Koundé, a true two-for-one defender. At the moment, more lateral than central due to the requirements of the script. “Everyone knows that I am a central defender and that I like to play more there, but if I have to be a winger, I will try to comply,” said the Frenchman, convincing on and off the pitch and who believes that rivals should not be happy to come across him Barca. “The adversaries must take us seriously. We are here to win."
Koundé has brought quality on the ball and aggressiveness to a defense that has only conceded one goal. Barça has gunpowder and has won in security. What is missing? According to his coach, that little point of pause and tempering that helps him better govern the games, but without being a fundamentalist. This is how Xavi described it yesterday. “Everyone knows that I like control more (Guardiola style) but if we have spaces that the rival gives us, we have to take advantage of them (Luis Enrique style). We are not going to tell Dembélé and Raphinha to stop and pull back”. Back or to gain momentum.
