Xavi admits he's 'p****d off' by sub-standard Barcelona
Martin Macdonald
- 9 Dec 2021 04:02 CST
- 3 min read
Barcelona head coach Xavi says he is "pissed off" at the manner of the club's exit from Europe's premier club competition, the Champions League.
The Blaugrana are in a terrible state both on and off the pitch currently, as although Xavi's return to the club as boss brought some positivity back, they are still €1.3 billion in debt, while their performances and results continue to be sub-standard.
On Wednesday evening, they were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage for the first time in 21 years.
Barca headed into the final game of the groups knowing that they had to better Benfica's result against Dynamo Kyiv, which meant getting something away at Bayern Munich.
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It was a must-win game for Barcelona, but they were easily defeated by the German giants, who barely broke a sweat as they emerged as 3-0 victors.
It was the proverbial 'men against boys' as Bayern dominated basically from start to finish, and even took the foot off the gas going forward in the second period.
Thomas Muller scored the first with a header, Leroy Sane beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen from distance for the second, while the third was tapped home by Jamal Musiala.
Following the defeat, Xavi lamented the current state of the team and the club as a whole following the demotion to the Europa League.
What did Xavi say?
"Bayern dominated us," he said after the Champions League defeat.
"We always want to dominate but it was the opposite here. We must demand more. We're Barca. This must be a point of inflection to change the dynamic and many more things.
"This is the Champions League, but this is also our reality. It's the situation we're in. I'm angry. This is the reality and it p***es me off. We have to tackle it face on. There's nothing else for it.
"A new era starts today. We start from zero. Our objective is the Champions League, not the Europa League, but that is our reality now and we have to try and win it."
Xavi admitted that Barca felt an emotion of helplessness during the comprehensive defeat against Bayern.
"I've seen how tough the reality is," he continued.
"I hoped we would compete better. Bayern are better. That's the reality. But we're going to work hard and give our all so that this doesn't happen again. It's a feeling of helplessness.
"We have to start to get Barca back where they belong, which is not in the Europa League. This is also a hammer blow for me as a coach. We will work hard to bring Barca back, but we have to change a lot, of course."
