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Xavi Hernandez’s rescue mission encounters its first major test on Tuesday as Barcelona face Benfica in a game that could decide the scrap in Group E to qualify for the Champions League last 16.
“We cannot ignore our principles,” said Xavi on Saturday, after Barca had just beaten Espanyol 1-0 in his first game in charge to move up to sixth in La Liga.
They had needed the help of a dubious Memphis Depay penalty and the post, which Espanyol hit twice late in the second half at Camp Nou.
But before a frantic final 20 minutes, Barcelona looked like a team at least intent on renewal, diligently obeying the wishes of their new coach, despite Xavi’s tenure being only two weeks – and in terms of training sessions, a few days – old.
The question now is how much can they risk against Benfica, when the pressure is greater and the margin for recovery so small? And are his team brave enough to do it?
For the best part of an hour, they were liberated against Espanyol. The chances were rolling in, the fans were bouncing again and the players were enjoying themselves.
But as it became clear the game would not be won easily and the result would be in doubt until the end, all the newly-adopted principles that had previously been crisp and clear became blurred. Under pressure, Barca lost sight of Xavi’s plan.
Xavi was asked afterwards if the fade had been physical.
“I don’t see it as a physical problem, it’s problem of understanding the game,” he said. “We had to go at the opposition, dominate, have the ball. It’s not a physical problem, it’s a football problem.”
In the Champions League, they are two points ahead of Benfica in Group E but lose, or even draw on Tuesday, and there may be no way back.
It means Xavi’s second game is an early test, not so much of his methods, which will need longer to be honed and measured, but his team’s conviction in carrying them out.
Quarantined quintet give Bayern headache
Bayern Munich must do without five quarantined stars, including Joshua Kimmich, in the Champions League as the absent midfield dynamo fuels debate in Germany after refusing to be vaccinated against Covid.
The Bavarian giants are already guaranteed a last 16 place as Group E winners ahead of Tuesday’s match at bottom side Dynamo Kiev.
However, Kimmich, who declined to be vaccinated due to “personal concerns”, was quarantined Friday for the second time this month after contact with someone who tested positive. On Sunday, Bayern confirmed their other unvaccinated players Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Michael Cuisance are also in quarantine because of a new coronavirus exposure.
Having five players sidelined through their own choices is an unwelcome distraction before heading to Ukraine.
“It’s annoying,” said head coach Julian Nagelsmann before the weekend, irritated that few questions are being fielded about football.
Bayern particularly missed Kimmich’s midfield presence in Friday’s shock 2-1 defeat at Augsburg as stand-in Marcel Sabitzer struggled, yielding possession which led to one of the hosts’ goals.
