FC Barcelona have not had the best of times in the first half of this season. The Catalans have largely been unconvincing with their performances on the pitch, and Xavi Hernandez has been under a lot of pressure in recent weeks.
Barcelona currently trail Real Madrid by seven points in La Liga, but still remain alive in three main competitions, i.e. Copa del Rey, Champions League, and La Liga. However, the humiliating fashion in which the team lost the Spanish Super Cup final to its fiercest rivals, Real Madrid, had put the team’s morale to a very low level.
As SPORT has reported, the team’s spirits were very low until the last Sunday. However, the performance at Benito Villamarin last night has awakened Barcelona from their slumber, and the report mentions that the Barcelona locker room is now bursting with pride.
This victory is now spurring the Catalan players to prove their critics wrong, who counted them out of the race only at the midpoint of the season.
The aftermath of the defeat to Real Madrid was particularly harsh. Things got to such a point that Thiago Motta was linked to the club as a possible successor of Xavi, and the current Barcelona head coach took this as a lack of respect for himself. Players like Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo were also linked with moves away from the club.
Xavi himself admitted that the locker room was “affected”, but the last-gasp victory gotten over Real Betis has resurrected the group. The fact that the team had to fight till the last minutes to get the full points had a more positive impact on their morale than a comfortable victory would have provided.
The report mentions that the victory against Real Betis was celebrated as the winning of a title in the locker room. Now, the players are already looking ahead to the difficult match against Athletic Club, especially as they understand that not getting a result in their next match will return things to square one.
