While securing a place in the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League would be a routine thing for a club as big as FC Barcelona, the fact that they had not been able to advance beyond the group stage in the last two seasons made last night’s achievement particularly special for the Catalan club and its supporters.
Naturally, one of the individuals most happy with this achievement was the Barcelona Sporting Director, Deco. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, he answered some questions for the journalists after the match, in which he talked about different aspects of the club.
Deco expressed that he knew winning this match would be difficult, as things get complicated as the latter parts of the group stage arrive, but his team was up to the task:
“It’s normal, as the final stretch of the group stage approaches, things get complicated. But we were aware of the importance of this match. We were coming from an unexpected defeat after not playing well against Shakhtar; it was time to react and have a good game, and we did it.”
One of the questions put to him was about Cancelo, who was inarguably the most influential player on the pitch last night. Deco shared that he and the club were already aware of the Portuguese fullback’s versatility when he was signed last summer:
“When we brought in Cancelo, we knew he had this ability to play on both sides, he’s a versatile player who can help us in that regard. It seems like the coach, with Araujo, Koundé, and Iñigo, wanted more defensive security, but in the end, what’s important is how we position ourselves on the field and the attitude we have.”
“Today, we played a good game from start to finish, and it’s normal to face difficulties; Porto is a great team.”
Deco was also asked about Joao Felix, and claimed that his quality was only being doubted by the media, while the club was also convinced by seeing him in training:
“We didn’t doubt, if anything, it was you who doubted (laughs). We, in our day-to-day, know Joao’s capabilities. He’s also had a lot of minutes with 11, 12 consecutive matches due to injuries. In many games, he’s had the chance to score, hit the post, other times it didn’t go in… but that’s how it is. Happy for him and his confidence.”
Lastly, Deco also reiterated his full faith in Xavi, and explained that the Barcelona head coach was renewed only because the club believed him to be the best person for his job:
“It’s normal, we know that rumors are normal at Barça when things aren’t going well. But in our day-to-day, we know what we want, we know that we had to recover players, and just when we thought we had everyone, Gavi got injured… But this is football, and what’s important is the day-to-day, how much we work, how much we suffer from defeats, and this is a team.”
“We don’t need to reaffirm anything, Xavi is our coach, he has a contract, and he recently renewed it. When a club renews its coach, it’s because they trust him, there’s no discussion. I understand that when we don’t play well and don’t win, there are criticisms, but it’s normal. This is football, and we’re used to it.”
