Xavi Hernandez was happy with the character they showed.
Xavi Hernandez was pleased with his side’s top win against Villarreal. Before this game, they had just one win in four matches. A 3-0 victory eased the pressure on Xavi and his side.
The Catalan giants scored three goals in seven minutes courtesy of Robert Lewandowski and Ansu Fati, which sentenced the match in the first half.
Speaking to Marca after the match, Xavi was happy with the character they showed.
“I think we played a great game, it was our turn. We had to react. It was not an easy day after losing at the Bernabéu and drawing with Inter. There are a lot of expectations on this team, a lot was expected. We have shown our faces, we have shown character, good intensity, very good in defence and, above all, in attack.”
“We have scored three goals against the team that conceded the least. Good feeling in general.”
Those three goals have returned Marc-Andre ter Stegen to the top of the leaderboard for the Zamora trophy, with Geronimo Rulli now having conceded six following this match.
Next up for the Blaugrana is the return of former manager Ernesto Valverde and Athletic Club on Sunday at Camp Nou.
Will Sergio Busquets sign a new contract this January?
The La Masia midfielder made his debut for the first-team back in 2008.
Since then, he has won nine La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies and made over 690 appearances for the Catalan giants.
He was heavily linked to the MLS this summer window and some American clubs are interested in landing the veteran next summer on a free transfer.
Manager Xavi explains whether the 34-year-old midfielder will a contract extension with Barcelona.
“When we lose everyone gets criticised, Busquets is still an important player for us, he’s the captain and he always helps us, Busquets and all the captains, we have a great dressing room,” Xavi told reporters.
“Busquets’ contract expires, yes… but we are still in October. He will decide. I took it as the season progressed. I had a renewal offer but decided to leave.
“Busi doesn’t have a clear replacement, [Miralem] Pjanic and Nico [Gonzalez] wanted to leave… but now we have options like Frenkie [de Jong], [Franck] Kessie, or even the option to use a defender there. Busquets is still an important player for us.”
Barcelona did not look solid in defence due to the injury crisis.
Barcelona are looking to recover from a brutal week which saw them lose the La Liga lead. They are on the way to seeing the group exit from the Champions League.
The Blaugrana are slowly recovering from their injury crisis. The first team squad saw as many as seven injuries, six of which were sustained during the international break. At the weekend, Jules Kounde came straight back into the line-up against Real Madrid.
The Blaugrana did not look solid in defence, Kounde’s presence was a clear upgrade.
As per the reports to Sport, there is a strong chance that Hector Bellerin will be back for their next match at Villarreal too. Bellerin was not on international duty at the time but suffered a calf strain in training, ruling him out for multiple weeks.
Bellerin is expected to return to the squad for Barcelona’s fixture at home to Villarreal on Thursday. He did full training on Monday.
It would leave Xavi Hernandez with another option at right-back, having been restricted more or less to Sergi Roberto or a makeshift solution since the international break. Andreas Christensen, Memphis Depay and Ronald Araujo are in the recovery phase.
Frenkie de Jong accepted a lower wage during his first three years at Barcelona.
The Catalan giants have offered the former Ajax midfielder £400,000-a-week deal after tax when he signed in 2019.
There were reports that De Jong refused to take a salary cut during the club’s financial struggles and fans were furious with the Dutch midfielder.
He claims his salary is made to look a lot larger than it actually is.
But the 25-year-old midfielder has set the record straight by slamming rumours about his high salary.
“I don’t think I am. There has been a campaign. Look, I never spoke a word myself. But the club is spreading, or the media that’s part of the club, has been spreading lies and a lot is fake,” De Jong said.
“In each of the first three years I played here, I cut my salary. So eventually money has to come back and it will drop on your normal salary so of course it will look bigger. I think many people don’t understand this, the numbers the media are spreading are fake.”
Frenkie De Jong has already confirmed he was pressured into considering an exit from the club.
Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong has denied rumours over his refusal to take a salary cut at Camp Nou.
The Dutchman was heavily linked with the summer move to Manchester United. He was also tracked by Chelsea in a long-running summer transfer battle.
He has earlier played for Ajax and Erik ten Hag is the current head coach of Man United so he would be in the mind of the Premier League club in January.
Despite all these, the 25-year-old showed his desire to stay in Catalonia, ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. Barcelona were also in mood to let the player go.
De Jong has already confirmed he was pressured into considering an exit from the club, by president Joan Laporta, as transfer interest in him increased.
The Dutch international also refuted speculation over how much he earns at Barcelona and his stance on a pay cut to assist with a fiscal remodelling at the club.
“There have been many lies and falsehoods spread about my salary”, as per reports from TV NOS, via Mundo Deportivo.
“In each of the first 3 years I played here, I cut my salary.
“Eventually the money comes back, and it comes on top of my normal salary, so it looks bigger.
“I think a lot of people don’t understand this, but the figures the media are spreading are false.”
Barcelona Flop Signings – Who are the Barcelona Flop Signings?
Over here we will take a look at the 5 Barcelona Flop Signings. These are the players who were good enough for Barcelona to chase them but later failed at the club. Watch & Bet Here =>
Barcelona are one of the biggest clubs in the history of football. However, not every footballer who goes there, can succeed.
List of 5 Barcelona Flop Signings
Philippe Coutinho
Ousmanne Dembele
Malcom
Arda Turan
Thomas Vermaelen
5. Thomas Vermaelen – Barcelona Flop Signings
On 9 August 2014, Arsenal acknowledged a £15 million idea from Barcelona for Vermaelen. The following day, he finished his move subsequent to marking a five-year contract. Vermaelen was tormented with wounds since his transfer. He experienced medical procedure on 2 December 2014 for common hamstring damage.
In the second round of his second season on 29 August 2015, Vermaelen scored his first goal for Barcelona, completing from a cross to win a home match against Málaga. He was applauded by chief Luis Enrique a while later. He however, never broke into the team.
On 8 August 2016, Roma loaned Vermaelen from Barcelona on a one-year deal. On 18 August 2016, Vermaelen made his introduction for the Rome club in a UEFA Champions League play-off against FC Porto and was sent off for two yellow card offenses after just 41 minutes.
During his time at the club, Vermaelen played just 607 minutes because of damage and came back to Barcelona toward the finish of the period.
On 26 November 2017, Vermaelen was chosen to begin in Barcelona’s 1–1 draw with Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, covering for the suspended Gerard Piqué.
He never broke into the team this time either and in January moved to Asia.
4. Arda Turan – Barcelona Flop Signings
On 6 July 2015, Barcelona declared the signing of Turan from Atlético for €34 million, or more €7 million in factors. The agreement would run for five seasons, yet Turan would just have the option to make a big appearance for the Catalans in January 2016, after Barcelona’s transfer boycott had been lifted.
On 29 December 2015, Turan picked number 7 for his shirt. Turan played his first Liga match with Barcelona on 9 January 2016, the seventeenth matchday of the period, at home against Granada. The match finished 4–0, with Turan helping Lionel Messi’s opening goal. On 17 August 2016, Turan scored twice and Lionel Messi once as Barcelona earned a 3–0 second-leg triumph over Sevilla to win the 2016 Supercopa de España 5–0 in total.
On 7 December 2016, Turan scored his first hattrick for Barcelona during a Champions League match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He turned into the 6th player in Barça history to score a hattrick in the Champions League, after Messi, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Samuel Eto’o and Neymar. Watch & Bet Here =>
However, the player was rather ill-disciplined and came up with injury, practice and other problems during his time their. He was eventually loaned out.
3. Malcom – Barcelona Flop Signings
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On 24 July 2018, Spanish club Barcelona declared the transfer of Malcom on a five-year contract for a detailed exchange expense of €41 million in addition to an extra €1 million in bonuses. Corinthians got 2.5% of the fee.
He was already near joining Roma, with fans hanging tight for him to land at the airport and executive boss Monchi expressing that the Italians would consider making legal move against Barcelona.
Because of points of confinement on players without European Union travel papers, Malcom was forgotten about from the Barcelona squad that won the 2018 Supercopa de España.
On 25 August, he made his official debut for the club in a 1–0 triumph over Real Valladolid at the José Zorrilla, supplanting countryman Philippe Coutinho with six minutes left.
The career once again slowed down as the player could not break into a team regularly because they had players like Messi and Dembele in the wings. He has now left for Zenit.
2. Miralem Pjanic is one of Barcelona Flop Signings
The Bosnian midfielder sealed a permanent move to Sharjah FC this summer on a two-year contract.
After having several successful seasons with Juventus, he struggled to make an impact at Juventus. He joined Camp Nou in a swap deal with Arthur who moved to the opposite direction.
His poor attitude started biting back at Barcelona later as Pjanic was and still is one of the most injury-prone players at the club.
1. Philippe Coutinho – Barcelona Flop Signings
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He like Ousmane Dembele was partly brought in with the money Barcelona had earned from selling Neymar. He was believed to be a double strategy player as someone who could play on the wing also like Neymar and also fill in the Iniesta role in the middle once the legend retired.
However, Coutinho’s spell at Barcelona was one of doom. He never worked for Barcelona despite being a talented and hard-working player. The main reason was that Barcelona made a tactical error by playing him in the wings. He is a pure number 10 who likes the ball in his feet and to coordinate and string attacks together rather than play a lonely dribbling winger.
He obviously never replaced Iniesta and was loaned out earlier this season to Bayern Munich. At Munich, he played a little and was given the central role and was shining. Meanwhile, he has now moved to Aston Villa permanently.
Xavi claims Barcelona have been performing well despite a disappointing Champions League campaign.
The Catalan giants are yet to secure their first win in the Champions League this year.
Barcelona are facing a tough road ahead as they are expected to play Europa League football for a second successive season.
“I still insist that we are on the right track. We have scored 20 goals in the league, conceded only one. We are better than we used to be. It is true that we have to improve in Europe, but that is the case with every newly started project,” Xavi told reporters.
“We are playing better in the league. Tomorrow is going to be a tough match, and we have to work on winning it. I’m a Barcelona fan. I want the best for the club. If I feel I can no longer do anything, I will go home. But for now, that’s fine. There is still a lot left in the season.”
“The president also continues to be optimistic. He is always positive, and helps us. What happened against Inter was unfortunate, and in Munich and Milan as well. It should not have happened, but we have to go on our own way. We have not talked about my continuity,” he added.
Ronald Araujo has made it clear he would love to see Lionel Messi back at Barcelona amid speculation the GOAT could return next season after his contract at PSG expires
In a recent interview, the center-back, who is presently injured, discussed the Argentina international. “If I were a sporting director, I would sign Messi for Barcelona,” he remarked.
Araujo also discussed new coach Xavi and what he has learnt from playing under the Barcelona icon.
They have been working with him for some time. At the beginning it was a little difficult, because Xavi comes with new ideas, with things that were not being done in recent years here,” he said.
“He is trying to bring back Barcelona’s philosophy and I think that now is when the fruits of the work we have been doing since his arrival are being reaped.
“When Xavi arrived, I had to continue learning, because when I went up to the first team, the Barcelona philosophy of playing with three midfielders had been lost. With the arrival of the coach, I continued to grow and today I feel very comfortable.”
Barcelona has suffered a significant setback as a result of Araujo’s injury, since the Uruguay international has emerged as an important player for the Catalans. He will be out for three months after undergoing surgery for a thigh injury.
Gundogan is putting in some influential displays at the centre of the park.
In a recent report from Manchester Evening News, it was mentioned that Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is in the plan of Barcelona’s last recruitment drive. The Spanish giants are looking for reinforcements to strengthen their squad and they are known for bringing in highly experienced free transfers.
The German will see his contract expiring at the end of the current season and the Sky Blues haven’t given any extension to his contract. Barcelona could potentially bring him to Camp Nou.
Gundogan has had a decent start to his campaign this season as he is putting in some influential displays at the centre of the park. He has netted two goals for City and provided an assist across all competitions.
The German international is a relentless midfielder as he has a high work rate both in defence and offence. He is now 31 and remains highly experienced as he has played in various European competitions throughout his career. Barcelona would need such a player in their setup.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola may offer him an extension in order to keep him at the Etihad. But, the Player might leave the club to join Barcelona.
Barcelona drew 3-3 against Inter Milan at Camp Nou last night.
Manager Xavi was left bemused with the number of mistakes made by Barcelona in the second half of the tie.
Captain Sergio Busquets felt the team didn’t react well when they went behind.
He believes it would be harder for Barcelona to go into the weekend facing Real Madrid in the El Clasico.
He said to Sport: “It’s a disappointment. It was a difficult group but we had to aspire to more after all of the signings that have been made. It is not mathematical(ly done) but it is very difficult.
“We were not as effective in the areas and you pay for that in the Champions League. It was a heads or tails and it has gone badly for us in the second half.
“Their first goal gave them a boost and took something out of us and we went trailing behind. It feels like when they score a goal it is chaos.
“It’s clear that this could affect us ahead of El Clasico. We have to lift ourselves.”
