Xavi: Barcelona future bright with or without me

On the 25th of January in the year 2024, at one minute past midnight.

According to Xavi Hernández, the coach of Barcelona, the club has a promising future even if he is no longer in charge. This statement was made after Barcelona's defeat of 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Club on Wednesday.

Barcelona lost their latest game at San Mamés, only a mere ten days after losing 4-1 to Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa final. This loss has left their chances for winning any trophies this season solely dependent on their performance in the LaLiga and the Champions League.

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Although Xavi was not satisfied with the outcome, he felt a sense of pride towards the younger players on the team. Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Hector Fort, and Marc Guiu, all teenagers, were given the chance to play in Bilbao.

Xavi expressed in his post-match press conference that although many coaches at well-known clubs base their success on winning trophies, he personally takes pride in the fact that our team put up a solid fight against a formidable opponent right until the final whistle. He also gave a special shoutout to the younger members of the team for their impressive efforts.

We're having fun with children. The team is not very large. This is what I imply when I mention that we are in the process of growing and developing. I believe that this is the beginning of something immense and notable. Regardless of whether I remain here or not, the future of Barça seems promising and prosperous.

As a coach, I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I have to say there's a fantastic project in motion. It's not just about me - it's about the impressive young athletes who are emerging. Players like Cubarsí, Fort, Lamine, Guiu, Fermín López, and countless others are making waves and proving their potential.

I believe that this marks the beginning of a great venture, but we need to put in a lot of effort and emerge victorious. The key to success lies in winning games at Barça.

Barcelona managed to equalize in a game against an opponent after conceding a goal in the first 36 seconds. This is the third time this season that they have allowed a goal in the opening minute. However, they took control of the game, scoring two goals with Robert Lewandowski and Yamal finding the back of the net before the end of the first half.

In the second half of the game, Oihan Sancet led Athletic to the same level. This caused the game to go into extra time. However, before this happened, Yamal missed two significant opportunities to secure a win for Barça.

I feel let down that we didn't make use of our opportunities when it was 2-2, but I can't fault the young player for it," stated Xavi. "He's only 16 years old and he's performing incredibly well. He creates those opportunities for himself."

Iñaki Williams came back in a hurry from the African Cup of Nations [AFCON] just to play. His brother, Nico, also scored when the game went into the additional 30 minutes. This helped Athletic to secure a win.

The team of Barça needs to concentrate their efforts on LaLiga and the Champions League. Currently, they are eight points behind Girona, who leads in LaLiga. Xavi is under a lot of pressure to perform well in these competitions, especially with the upcoming last-16 match against Napoli in February.

He repeated his previous statement that if we don't perform well by the end of the season, I will have to depart. This comes as the negative feedback has been increasing.

It's not just me who feels this way, all coaches at this prestigious club understand the expectations. Barça is a massive team and as a coach, I recognize the pressure that comes with it. Winning titles is a must, or at the very least, making a significant run for them.

Today we participated in a competition. We put in a lot of effort and gave it our all, but unfortunately we were up against a really skilled team. Athletic was the deserving winner. Congrats to them, and that's just how the game of football goes.

Our aim is to improve our performance in LaLiga and make it to the later stages of the Champions League. However, it's an understood fact that when a team experiences a defeat, the coach is often the one to receive the criticism.

Williams, who scored the winning goal, was not supposed to play in this game, but he managed to return from the Ivory Coast after Ghana was knocked out of the AFCON earlier than expected on Monday. As a result, he was able to take his place on the bench.

He entered in the second part of the game and scored the winning goal in the beginning of the extra time, putting the ball into the net after his initial attempt hit the inner side of the goal post.

"I never thought this could happen," he shared with journalists. "Everything went smoothly. Yesterday, I couldn't even picture myself being present after the huge setback against Ghana, let alone participating in the game."

I wanna express my gratitude to Athletic for helping me make a comeback. The vibe was electric tonight and it was such a great game that ended on a high note. I strongly believe that we deserved the victory.

Time has passed in a flash. The journey was lengthy and I didn't have any opportunity to take a break, but I had a desire to arrive here. Even if I didn't get to participate, my intention was to be present to offer my assistance to the team.

"This is the kind of occasion that every member of Athletic desires to participate in. Our aspirations are to triumph in the Copa."

Athletic will participate in the semifinals draw on Friday, along with Real Sociedad and Mallorca. The fourth spot will be filled by the winner of the last quarterfinal match between Atlético Madrid and Sevilla happening on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Barça redirects focus towards LaLiga as they prepare for two consecutive games held in their home turf against Villarreal and Osasuna within the upcoming week.