Xavi opens up on 'difficult' Barcelona era without Messi
Martin Macdonald
- 23 Apr 2022 18:43 BST
- 3 min read
Xavi has opened up on Barcelona's 2021/22 season so far, and believes the club is going through a "difficult" period without Lionel Messi.
Up until the summer of 2021, Messi's entire career was spent at Barcelona, the club he joined at the age of 13 after moving from Argentina.
He went on to become the club's greatest ever goalscorer and won no less then seven Ballon d'Or trophies.
Barcelona's financial issues meant that the club could no longer afford Messi's wages due to new regulations implemented by La Liga.
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Even if the Argentine agreed on a wage reduction, which he did, the fact his contract ended meant that he could not be registered again.
When Barcelona announced his departure, Paris Saint-Germain pounced quickly to sign him on a free transfer.
Messi has been unable to hit the impressive heights of his time at Barcelona as he has scored just three goals in Ligue 1.
He has become more of a creator than a goalscorer at PSG, and has assisted 13 goals in the French top flight in his first campaign.
As for Barcelona, they suffered a torrid time under Ronald Koeman and it wasn't until the appointment of Xavi that things took a turn for the better as they are now poised to qualify for the Champions League.
They have, however, never been in the title fight, with Real Madrid set to win La Liga.
In Europe, they were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and went on to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, only to be eliminated by Eintracht Frankfurt.
What has Xavi said about Messi?
Xavi believes Barcelona mainly miss Messi due to his ability to win matches on his own with a piece of magic.
"There have been moments of all types," the Barcelona head coach said, looking back on the season so far.
"Moments of science fiction, the 4-0 at the Bernabeu, title situations that we haven't achieved and of terror too, with absences for Covid and when we were ninth.
"It's the post-Messi era which is difficult in itself, he won matches on his own, but we have to be patient in spite of the fact I was eager to win titles, it wasn't to be. We need to reinforce but we have to be realistic and think that this is a difficult situation.
"It isn't easy but the this team has faith, character and a great attitude. We have to keep believing and next year fight to win titles."
