Mystery solved: Xavi’s paper to Barcelona defender has contents revealed

FC Barcelona got three very important points in their last La Liga match against Real Sociedad. The match remained indecisive for almost its entirety, as no goals had been scored till the 90^th minute, but the Catalans were able to get a goal in the dying minutes through Ronald Araujo.

A victory was needed by Barcelona after they had lost the match against Real Madrid, with a goal scored by Jude Bellingham also in the 92^nd minute of the match as Araujo scored last night. This victory can hopefully propel Barcelona to other triumphs in the coming games.

Martinez’s episode with the paper

With no goals having been scored in the ninety minutes, there was another spectacle that caught the attention of the spectators in the stands and those watching on their screens.

The defender Inigo Martinez was delivered a piece of paper with Xavi’s instruction on it in the 58^th minute of the match.

Normally, such instructions are received and further conveyed to the team by players in a very short time, but Martinez kept the paper with him till the 70^th minute to the surprise and entertainment of those following the defender’s actions.

Cause of confusion

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the defender explained after the match why he had kept the paper with him for such a long time. The defender joked after the match:

“There were so many things written that I don’t even remember what it said. I didn’t even know what to say to my teammates.”

Xavi also confessed after the match that the changes made prior to the delivery of the instructions could have led to confusion:

“The piece of paper was related to a tactical issue because, with the changes we made, there could have been doubts about the markings.”

Just before the paper was passed, Xavi had brought on Pedri for Fermin Lopez and Ferran Torres for Robert Lewandowski and also made some changes in the tactical setup of the team.

As Xavi himself explained, this could have led to confusion for Martinez in understanding the actual meaning of Xavi’s instructions.

However, everything went well for Barcelona as the Catalans were able to get the full three points from this match with Araujo scoring the winning goal in the 92^nd minute.