Porto tie a chance for Barcelona to prove progress in Xavi Hernandez’s 100th game

BARCELONA – After consecutive premature and humiliating Champions League exits, Barcelona visit Porto on Wednesday aiming to make a statement in their trickiest Group H fixture.

Xavi Hernandez’s side, five-time winners of the competition, have set their sights on returning to Europe’s elite, with that goal shaping their transfer strategy last summer.

President Joan Laporta sold off various parts of the club and a percentage of future television rights to fund a spending spree, but the Catalan side were left with egg on their faces after failing to make it past the group stage.

This summer, the spending was far more restrained. But Barcelona still managed to bring in Portuguese duo Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix on loan, as well as Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

They got off to a good start, beating Belgian champions Royal Antwerp 5-0 in their Champions League opener.

But Xavi was also quick to acknowledge it means little to their overall chances, given they also thrashed Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in their first match last season.

“It’s too soon (to say we can win it), last year we were in the same situation and it didn’t go well,” he said.

“We have to continue like this, we’re on a good path... next up we have the most complicated match of the group. We have the capacity, the confidence, but in the next game, we have what I would say is the hardest game.”

The clash at the Estadio do Dragao will be a useful barometer of whether they are close to the level they want to be at.

It will be Xavi’s 100th game as Barcelona coach, during which time he has won the La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup, but come up short in Europe.

Even dropping down to the Europa League did not prove fruitful in either of the last two seasons, with defeats by Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester United adding insult to injury.

Xavi will hope Wednesday’s clash against tough opponents like Porto can be a turning point in their European pursuits.

The Catalan side are without injured trio Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, but 20-year-old midfielder Fermin Lopez has quickly established himself as a viable option in midfield.

After last season’s transfer splurge on Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha and others, Barcelona now have to lean on their youth academy talents to supplement Xavi’s options.

But the Spaniard is optimistic.

“It makes me proud (to have) players so young performing and making the difference in games,” he said.

“(Under the circumstances) we have to turn to the youth academy and it always delivers. They are doing things well there.” AFP