Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said he was “worried” after his side lost their second game in a row and fourth in nine games against Royal Antwerp on Wednesday.
The Catalans equalized twice but still ended up losing 3-2 in injury time to the bottom-placed outfit in Group H.
While many Culers and pundits have worried too much about a defeat given that Xavi fielded a second-tier team, the way Barca played generated fear and laid the groundwork for communicating a crisis engulfing the club.
“Yes, I’m worried,” Xavi showed at all times. “It is normal. “
“The team doesn’t feel comfortable. We’ve had a bad run of negative results. We have to be critical. The opponent creates a lot of chances against us and values us too much. What happens is that we are in the circular of 16,” he added.
Probed on his dismal away record in the Champions League which has seen his side victorious in just two out of seven road trips, Xavi said that the competition is “hard for everybody”.
“We’re coming off a difficult few years for the club, but now we’re in the round of 16, which was one of the goals we set at the start of the season.
“On Monday we’ll be in the draw and in the most sensible of the group, so we have to congratulate the team, who have done their homework. But we have to get back to smart football,” Xavi demanded.
With Oriol Romeu guilty of Antwerp’s first two goals, Xavi refused to admit he had made a mistake by placing the rusty former Girona player in midfield despite his lack of minutes lately.
“We have to give him confidence. He started well, but he didn’t have his best day today just like the rest of the team. We have to encourage him, he’s got a lot of quality,” Xavi stressed.
It now remains to be seen whether Barca can return to the “good football” that Xavi needs to see against Valencia on Saturday, or sink further into stagnation as 2023 draws to a close.