FC Barcelona manager Xavi is hopeful that the Catalan team can seal a place in the Champions League round of 16.
Barcelona find themselves in a tricky position in the Champions League, with the Spanish team sitting in third place in Group C.
Barça have played three games in the competition this season and only have three points. They started their 22/23 Champions League campaign with a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
However, they returned to winning ways when they met Viktoria Plzen, posting a 5-1 victory over the Czech team. But then they were beaten again when they met Milan in their third game of the group stage. The Italian team secured a 1-0 win over Barca in that game.
Leaving the group stage would be a ‘huge disappointment’, admits Xavi
Barcelona hosts Inter Milan at the Camp Nou in their next Champions League match. Before that game, coach Xavi addressed the media.
Xavi admitted that it would be a “big disappointment” if Barcelona failed to reach the round of 16. He also admitted that the situation has become “complicated”, but he is hopeful that they can pull it off.
“It would be a big disappointment not to go through, but we are thinking positive. It has become complicated but we want to win tomorrow and stay alive in this competition”, said Xavi when asked about the possibility of Barcelona not qualifying for the round of 16.
“It’s not a comfortable situation for us because of the mistakes in Munich, the controversy in Milan, not attacking well (…) but tomorrow is an opportunity to fix that”.
Meanwhile, Bayern top Group C with nine points from three games. Inter Milan is in second place with six points.
A win over Inter in the next game would take Barcelona’s point tally to six, the same as Inter Milan’s. However, if Inter secure all three points, it would open a six-point gap between the Italian team and Barcelona.
Barcelona will try to record a win over the Serie A side and bag all three points to boost their hopes and chances of advancing to the next stage of the competition.
Meanwhile, Barcelona sit top of the La Liga points table with 22 points from eight matches. Arch-rivals Real Madrid also have 22 points, but Xavi’s men sit top thanks to superior goal difference.
