Xavi Hernández’s Barça say goodbye to the Copa del Rey in the worst way
Last Wednesday, Xavi Hernández’s Barça said goodbye to the Copa del Rey in a dramatic duel against Athletic Club. The match ended in a two-goal tie at the end of 90 minutes and was decided in extra time, where the Williams brothers scored twice for the Basques. A hard blow for the Blaugrana team, who see how the only two options they have left to not close the year without a title: the Liga and the Champions League.
Four top rivals in the Champions League
And the truth is that it seems very difficult for Barça to win either trophy. In the League there are still many games ahead, and a comeback is not impossible, but the situation changes a lot in the Champions League, where there are the best teams in Europe, who are demonstrating a very high level. Although he has a good chance of going through to the play-offs against Naples, in the quarter-finals he could meet an opponent against whom it would be almost impossible.
Specifically, there are four teams that could leave Barça out in a possible quarter-final round: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. These teams have some of the best players in the world and would be a real nightmare for Barça. It remains to be seen whether they all make it past the round of 16, but the reality is that they have a matchup in which they are the favourites. And in addition to these four teams, others such as Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund or Arsenal could also be an obstacle for Xavi Hernández’s team.
Xavi Hernández, in a delicate situation
Therefore, Barça’s season is starting to turn grey. It’s still February, but the forecast is not good at all. Xavi Hernández stated that if they did not win titles, he would leave at the end of the season. And right now it seems the most likely scenario, especially seeing that the culer team is very fickle. Both in the Champions League and La Liga they will have to go game by game to not give up on the dream of the title, but the most likely scenario today is a year without any trophy.
But in addition to Xavi Hernández, the players are also very much to blame for this crisis of results. Relevant footballers such as Lewandowski, Kounde or Frenkie de Jong are not giving the expected level and could leave the club at the end of the season to change the direction of a project that is experiencing its worst moments.