Barcelona are in a dip, not a crisis, insists coach Xavi Hernandez

BARCELONA – Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez stressed on Saturday that his club were in a dip but not falling into crisis, and added that president Joan Laporta had full confidence in his project.

The Spanish champions have played poorly in recent weeks and fell to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat by Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday in Hamburg.

Despite the loss, Barcelona are still joint group leaders and expected to qualify for the knockout stages, while they are third in the Spanish La Liga before Sunday’s games.

The Catalan side lost at home to Real Madrid in the El Clasico on Oct 28 and scraped a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad the previous weekend, despite a drab performance.

“I don’t think this is (my worst moment) at all, my worst moment as a coach came last year,” Xavi told a news conference, referring to his team’s Champions League group-stage elimination.

“I have lived through terrible crises here, this doesn’t go that far, it’s a dip... we haven’t played well, we have to recover our game.

“Getting that back is key – as a coach, I feel good, this is nothing to do with the situation we had last year.”

Spanish media singled out Xavi for criticism after the Shakhtar loss, especially against a team from war-torn Ukraine, who have to play their matches at a neutral stadium.

“All the European ghosts of previous years came down on Barcelona,” wrote Spanish newspaper Marca.

“The eliminations from past years against Bayern, Benfica and Inter Milan. And yesterday’s opponent had a much lower level than all of these.”

But the 43-year-old coach said Laporta was “calm” amid the negativity in the press.

“After each game we speak with the president,” he explained.

“We are very united, he’s a very positive person, more than me even, and he is very calm. He has maximum confidence in us, as staff and as a group.”

Barcelona hosted Alaves on Sunday seeking to rebuild confidence after a tricky few weeks.

Xavi also said his team need to adhere to their traditional strategy of positional play to find their way out of their slump.

“We’ve played badly for two games and we have to recover, to be more faithful to our identity,” he continued.

“(It’s happened) because we’re not well positioned on the pitch, we are sure what we can, or must, improve, and I hope from tomorrow everyone sees that.” AFP