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Obviously, they were not ready to re-establish themselves in Europe.
But are they once again the go-to team for hunting on Spanish soil?
Here, if anything, it would prove to be Barcelona under Xavi.
Despite the progress of the league, it is impossible to give Xavi the highest rating for this season so far.
Because once there was opposition from the big clubs in Europe, Barcelona was unable to take on the best.
Champions League qualification already in the group stage last year followed Robert Lewandowski, Jules Conde, Rafinha and all potential star signings this summer. All recruited for money that wasn’t really there. They were all recruited because short-term success was judged to be the best for long-term well-being.
Arguments to be made
The result – a new passport to the Champions League after failing to prove themselves against Bayern Munich or Inter.
The trip then, in the Europa League play-off double against Manchester United, was probably just as traumatic.
And the fact remains that the efforts of Xavi and the club icon in the European match alone, since he took over from Ronald Koeman in late fall 2021, can be used as an argument for dismissal.
16 matches. Four wins, six assists and six losses. Of course, numbers that are substandard for a club with Barcelona’s ambitions.
Fortunately for Xavi in terms of job security after that, he solved the equation better at the local level. Even against their biggest competitor.
Beat Madrid in the final
A 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in the league a year ago was enough of a blow, although Real Madrid went on to win the league title in the end.
However, every now and then she would send a signal that there was something worth building on with Xavi at the helm. There was already potential to win things over again with some top deals the following summer.
Although they were barely close in subsequent league encounters in the autumn (3-1 in favor of Madrid), the next morale boost for Barcelona came when they actually beat Real Madrid in the final.
Yes, it was the Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia. But it was an overshoot (tactically and qualitatively). It was El Clasico. Above all, it was just a final match with a title on the line.
That is, the ones that Real Madrid usually cannot lose.
Only now are the direct effects of the Supercopa strike beginning to settle in. Another European failure, followed by a 0-1 defeat against Almería, made Barcelona a club with question marks once again. Real Madrid needed an insane crush against Liverpool in order to right the question marks again.
Now three El Clásicos (yes, they meet in the league between the cup semi-finals too) await us in just over a month.
They will undoubtedly be important – as always.
Nothing else to go back to
Real Madrid usually show their best form just in time for the spring flowers to bloom. In short, because it’s when things are decided in the European game that’s where Los Blancos are at their best. After all, Champions League matches have been, for the past decade at least, something that gives energy to the tournament’s greatest champions rather than taking it away from them.
Like I said, Barca have run out of steam when they’ve faced non-Spanish competition recently. And now, with the European Games already over (for the fourth time in two years for Xavi), they really need a home spring to remember. This includes not only maintaining a great distance from Real Madrid in the league, but also extending their harvest in the championship they have won throughout history.
Above all, Xavi needs to show that the great victory a year ago and the Super Cup triumph are no exceptions to El Clasico confirming a rule in the balance of power prevailing between these two Spanish giants (which is still difficult to define in a moment with league and European matches taken into account).
Because if Barcelona can’t undo the domestic dominance?
Then there is nothing else to count on.