The defeat to Real Madrid in their last match was a highly painful event for everyone associated with FC Barcelona. The fact that this defeat came in a cup final combined with the fact that it came at the hands of Real Madrid made it a particularly hard pill to swallow for Barcelona.
As a result, the mood in Barcelona was rather gloomy after the match, but Laporta was quick to show his continued confidence in Xavi.
According to SPORT, this defeat was still in the minds of the players as they gathered with Xavi Hernandez in a huddle before the start of the training session ahead of Thursday’s match against Unionistas de Salamanca.
Xavi and the players engaged in a long conversation at this event and contemplated upon the problems being faced by the team which are keeping them from moving forward.
As compared with previous such meetings, the emphasis was not so much on continued work in the current direction, but the team agreed that more was needed to compete with the best teams in Spain and Europe. Improvements, both in attitude and aptitude, were identified as key to further growth of the team.
Despite the demoralizing defeat last Sunday, Xavi believes that the team should leave that loss behind, and start working to ensure positive outcomes from the matches that are yet to come in the most decisive stretch of the season. Xavi was confident this season can still turn out to be a successful one.
On the other hand, the players themselves recognize that they will have to turn the situation around by themselves. They do not feel any lack of support from the club but know that only performances on the field will determine how the season ends for them, and they are ready to take a step forward.
