How Barcelona and boss Xavi Hernandez found perfect harmony ahead of Manchester United Europa League clash
Updated 16/02/2023 at 07:06 GMT
One of the most eagerly anticipated clashes upon the return of European competitions is the UEFA Europa League play-off clash between Barcelona and Manchester United, which of course is a rematch of the two Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011. Ahead of the game we got in touch with Felix Martin of Eurosport Spain to get the lowdown on how the Catalans are shaping up.
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Barcelona and their boss Xavi Hernandez are thriving thanks to arriving at “a point of mutual understanding”, according to Eurosport Spain’s Felix Martin.
Xavi, 43, returned to the club he made over 750 appearances for as a player in November 2021 as the managerial replacement for Ronald Koeman.
Despite an initially slow start and some teething issues, Xavi appears to have Barca on the right track. Though they exited the Champions League in the group stage, they are top of La Liga, 11 points clear of holders and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
On top of that they hammered Real in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, and come into the Europa League play-off tie with Manchester United full of confidence.
So what has clicked? What has gotten them playing so well?
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Xavi Hernandez
Image credit: Getty Images
“I think Xavi and Barca have finally reached a point of mutual understanding where the team has finally understood what the coaching staff is asking of them.” Martin explains to us.
“Barca, as teams like Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid did in other years, seem to be at a stage in their play when they win their games almost automatically with low scores.
“They are winning games a lot 1-0 or 2-1. In other years this was the calling card of Atletico Madrid and of course they could also find goals from corners or take clever fouls. Or even consider the similar impact of Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
"I think that in the case of Barca, the way Xavi plays is very favourable against the teams they face domestically in La Liga.
“However perhaps not so much against teams from other leagues in European competitions where games can demand much more intensity and where controlling the possession does not guarantee winning the game.”
One of the real strengths of this Barca team has been, as Felix outlined, the ability to win close games. The defensive solidity that Xavi has built has really stood out.
So far this season in 21 league matches, Barcelona have conceded just seven goals. The next lowest figure for goals conceded in Europe’s top five leagues is Newcastle United in the Premier League with 13.
No team across Europe’s top five leagues has conceded fewer than ten goals apart from Barcelona. And only twelve teams apart from Barcelona have conceded fewer than twenty goals this season.
“We are talking about the ease with which Barca has been picking up 1-0 wins (four in their last six matches) but we are not taking into account one key factor: keeping clean sheets.
“I think this is one of the most positive aspects of Xavi's team, where players like Jules Kounde and especially Ronald Araujo are in exceptional form.
“Other players like Jordi Alba seem to be experiencing a second wind and the midfield formed by Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Gavi guarantees you to be able to control the game at times when the match becomes a bit anarchic and you need to stay quiet and have a balanced team.”
So that all sounds extremely promising for Barcelona and their fans. But where can they be hurt? For Martin there is one Manchester United player who cause real issues.
“I think that a player like Marcus Rashford, taking into account the run of form that he is in at the moment, can do a lot of damage to Barca.
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“I think we will see a very interesting duel between Rashford and Araujo, who in my opinion will play at right-back to try and act as a direct counter to the English winger, even though Kounde has often played there.
“Araujo did an impressive job taking Vinicius out of the game in the Super Cup, so Xavi has every reason to put him at right-back in this match.
“Speaking of weak points, it is not easy to identify weaknesses in a team that is proving to be as solid as Barca.
"Perhaps, as we have talked about before, the lack of production in the attacking third could be one.
“Barca are winning games with low scores and maybe have been missing some leadership from players like Robert Lewandowski or Raphinha but now that the former is back, and the latter has started scoring, those worries could be over.”
The tie will be an extremely exciting one, with both sides playing to keep their European hopes alive for the rest of the season whilst also balancing out their responsibilities domestically.
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You can watch Barcelona v Manchester United in the first leg of the Europa League play-off live on BT Sport.
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