Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez, coach of Barcelona, has shown the gains that his team has achieved this season, despite leaving it without achieving any title.
The Catalan club succeeded in achieving a difficult victory over its host Real Betis at home 2-1 on Saturday evening in the 35th round of the Spanish League, to ensure participation in the Champions League next season.
Barca officially booked its seat in the Champions League next season, with a goal scored by Jordi Alba in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Xavi made statements after the match, which was held at the “Benito Villamarin” stadium, in which he said: “Maybe in November or December we would have drawn in any match, and we would fall back, but now we are moving forward.”
Xavi continued: “There is a victorious spirit and the team is fighting, and no opponent has given us anything, and these are all important gains, even if the season was not good for us in terms of titles.”
The Spanish coach continued, “We beat the top 10 in the second round. We competed strongly, and our performance improved. I think it is clear to everyone, despite the loss against Cadiz and then Rayo Vallecano.”
He added, “We managed to get back into the competition, and we played well, badly, or less than good, but we competed, and we had a winning spirit. We didn’t get any gifts from anyone.”
On Barca’s chances next season, Xavi said: “We cannot go for another season without winning titles, and we have to believe in our project, and by qualifying for the Champions League, we got rid of a heavy load, and our situation was difficult in November.”
It is worth noting that Barcelona, despite its failure to win any title this season, but achieved important victories over Real Madrid, the “La Liga champions” 4-0, Atletico Madrid 4-2 and Seville 1-0.