Xavi's delusional Premier League claim as he tries to avoid Barca sack

FT Desk

• 27 Oct 2022 13:54 BST
• 3 min read

Xavi has claimed La Liga is as good as the Premier League as he attempts to diffuse the fall-out from Barcelona's early Champions League exit.

Xavi's future as Barcelona head coach is on a shaky nail after the Blaugrana failed to progress from Champions League Group C on Wednesday.

The club spent €153 million on the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha this summer, and reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League was a minimum requirement without risking another "financial lever".

But despite Lewandowski scoring five goals in five games, Inter Milan's 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen couple with Barca's 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich means the Catalan giants drop into the Europa League from Christmas.

READ: The 11 qualified teams who spent less than Barca

Little wonder Xavi is now trying to play up La Liga, with his side second domestically, just three points behind reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid.

"We have to fight for all the titles in the next months," he said after the Bayern reverse. "There's the Europa League, La Liga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa. I'm convinced we can fight for all the competitions.

"I really think that La Liga is at the same level as the Premier League."

READ: Fans divided over Xavi sacking

No longer the case

Unfortunately for Xavi, that might have been true when he was an elite-level midfielder in the early part of this century, but Spain is ranked 11,572 points below England in the latest UEFA country coefficients, and at a time when they have been joined by Atletico Madrid and Sevilla in being dumped out of the Champions League.

Real have won through, but Spain have only one team in the knock-out stages for the first time in more than two decades, while England will have four: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Xavi might be given time to turn Barceona around - 50 per cent of users think he should be given that chance - but claiming a La Liga title would be as valuable as a Permier League one this season wreaks of desperation.