FC Barcelona won the league title last season after a gap of some years. Winning this title was not an easy feat, and the Catalans faced some very difficult moments, which they successfully overcame to get the first league trophy for Xavi.
The inside story of how things went at the club has been showcased in a recently released series on Amazon Prime, “FC Barcelona, a New Era”. As SPORT has highlighted, this series recalls the pressure that Xavi felt during the last season.
Barcelona started the 2022/23 league campaign with a draw
The debut of the 2022/23 La Liga season for Barcelona was particularly problematic. The first match of the league season saw players like Lewandowski, Raphinha, Christensen, and Kessie all make their debuts for the Catalan club, but still, Barcelona were unable to get a victory against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou.
The match ended in a goalless draw, and to make matters worse, Sergio Busquets also saw a red card for elbowing Falcao. While Ter Stegen kept things from getting even worse, Barcelona fans left Camp Nou highly disappointed that night.
Xavi and Jordi Cryuff, the Sporting Director of Barcelona at the time, both spoke to the media about the pressure the team felt and asked everyone to remain calm.
Xavi remained confident
However, while the club executives were putting on a face of calm in front of the public, the club internally was facing a moment of high tension and discomfort. Xavi recalls a meeting between the club higher-ups in the following words:
“I remember a very tense meeting with the board after the first league match. With Mateu, the president, and Jordi Cruyff. I told them to stay calm; it was only the first match of the season, and we had drawn.”
These words by Xavi proved to be prophetic, as Barcelona actually went on to win the league title, despite the draw faced on that day. However, this series still shows the everyday tension and struggles that the club internally experiences, which rarely come into public sight.
