Barcelona struggled in midweek and find themselves facing elimination from the Champions League. There is little time for them to recover as they face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, but Xavi is confident his side will perform well and win the El Clasico.
Barcelona go into El Clasico as league leaders, but with the likes of Memphis Depay, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin injured, so many see Real Madrid as favorites for the match.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez was asked if he thought the Inter game would affect morale.
“Honestly, it’s unpredictable. I think it’s the game where the dynamics affect you the least, because you’re very focused on El Clasico. Last year we showed as much. We got to El Clasico at a bad moment and it went well,” Xavi initially said at the press conference.
“We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. We will try to compete and get the three points. But honestly, it’s unpredictable.”
“El Clasico is a game with 3 points. It’s also an important morale-boosting match. Our goal is to win El Clasico and play as we believe. Pressure and attack with intensity”.
The next question he was asked was whether he thought their 4-0 win over Los Blancos could serve as a benchmark for the players this round. Xavi was keen to point out that in terms of concepts, he could help them.
“It can be used as a benchmark to be brave, to have the ball in the opposition half… they feel comfortable in a low block and a middle block to go on the counter-attack, but we also have to be in the block and to attack in the right way”.
“It’s what we like. We must have personality. We come into it at a good moment in the league, we are at the top of the table and we have to take advantage of that.”
Xavi also seemed keen to stress that this was an opportunity for his players rather than a daunting task. He explained that these matches were the ones to be expected as a player.
The Catalan was certainly keen to send a message of optimism to his squad. If they buy into that state of mind after a damaging defeat, it will be proven in El Clasico.