A monumental UEFA Champions League matchup awaits Barcelona this week, as it will face Bayern Munich in the final group stage matchday of the season.
In order for Barca to punch its ticket into this season's Champions League knockout stage, it will need to defeat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena or see Dynamo Kyiv clinch a win or draw result in the other match of Group E against Benfica.
Barca manager Xavi Hernandez is much confident that his Barcelona side can secure a win over the Bundesliga powerhouse, but it will need to orchestrate a keen performance, which he touched on during a press conference ahead of the match.
“I see the team as capable of going to Munich and winning,” Xavi said. “That's our goal at the outset. We have no choice. We depend on ourselves. … We'll go with everything, to compete and to be the protagonists. We will prepare for the match in the best way. We have to be dominant. We have to have the ball and play in the opponent's half.”
Barcelona is just coming off of its first defeat of the Xavi managerial era, as it notched a 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis in La Liga play.
As was the case in Barca’s opening fixtures under Xavi, its attacking setup, led by forward Memphis Depay, had multiple promising sequences over the contest. In the end, Barca wasted crucial goal-scoring chances as it instead watched Real Betis forward Juanmi score what ended up being the game-winning goal of the match during the second half.
Overall, Xavi sees plenty of room for improvement at this point in the season.
“We have to be more tactical,” Xavi said. “They can't catch you on a counterattack. We knew about their transitions. … It's a defeat that hurts. At home. We had a good line, but that's football.
“We have to dominate the matches more. We have to stop the counter-attack. These are situations that we have to control. It was unfair. This is the Barca we want, but we have to improve. We have to be smarter tactically.
“The match was meant to be won, and not only did we not win it, but we lost it. It's hard for us to score.”
This could be a season-altering week for the La Liga powerhouse.
Follow Us
Subscribe