Barça coach, Xavi Hernández, was exultant after the 6-0 win over Pumas at the Joan Gamper Trophy, a party in which his team entertained the thousands of fans who attended the Spotify Camp Nou. The one from Terrassa considered the preseason good, assured that the sensations “are good”, but urged his men to “not lower their guard”.
“Today everything has been round. Seeing the fans dedicated to the team, to the signings... We've given a good image and it's been a good game. We entered very well, with a lot of intensity and managed to make a difference. That has meant that the dynamics are relaxed afterwards”, summed up the coach about the match, already decided in the first half.
With six days to go until the start of the League, the coach assured that “we've had a good preseason. It is true that it is the Gamper and it is a friendly, but we are happy. We will work hard, we will work hard to make this work and the sensations are good, ”he claimed.
Asked about the intensity of his team in the first few minutes in which he overwhelmed his rival, Xavi claimed that “it is what we have to achieve for the ninety minutes. Today it is difficult to maintain it throughout the match. After 3 or 4-0 we slow down. But you can't go down, that's why we need a wide squad with doubled positions. We cannot let our guard down at any time,” he repeated.
Finally, he was grateful for having a large squad and did not want to go into individual praise after the good understanding between Lewandowski and Pedri. High-level players understand each other very well. I have many options as a coach and it will be difficult to make an eleven, but this competition makes us better as a team” he concluded.
For Pedri it was also a great day. The Canarian scored two goals and was one of the highlights of the match. “We wanted to start winning, it was a game with many goals and it leaves us wanting to start the League. We have had a good preseason, we want to start by beating Rayo”, he explained.
Regarding his understanding with Lewandowski, both gave each other assists, Pedri said that it is “a luxury to play with him, he is a show, I enjoy seeing how he shoots and how he associates, I hope he has many joys this season”. Finally, he thanked Joan Laporta and his team for the reinforcements. “The president has managed the signings well, they help us a lot and we hope to have a very nice season”, he concluded.
