Coach Xavi admitted that Barcelona is currently regressing and just played their worst match under his leadership after losing to Shakhtar Donetsk, missing an early chance to advance in the Champions League.
“Barca deserved to lose,” Xavi said after the match at Volkspark, a neutral ground in Hamburg, Germany, which Shakhtar Donetsk borrowed to play their European Cup matches. “The team played very poorly and had no plan before the game. This is one of the worst matches in the two years I have worked at Barca. We need to be honest and self-critical.”
Despite having the opportunity to advance early through two legs, Barcelona appeared lackluster at Volkspark. Throughout the 90 minutes, they had 69% ball possession but managed only one close-range shot – a weak header by Gavi in the second half. Superstar Robert Lewandowski continued to disappoint, failing to score in his last six matches on all fronts, marking the longest goalless streak since not scoring in ten consecutive matches while playing for Dortmund from December 2010 to February 2011.
Not only the attack but Barcelona’s defense also had an off day. They allowed Danylo Sikan to head the ball comfortably inside the penalty area, resulting in the only goal of the match in the 40th minute. Even without the outstanding performance of Marc-Andre ter Stegen in one-on-one situations, Barcelona could have suffered an even heavier defeat.
According to Xavi, Barcelona improved and reacted better in the second half, but it was not enough. “The Champions League demands the highest level of performance, and we did not achieve that. This is a step backward,” the Spanish coach continued. “We are very frustrated. Confidence has declined, and we are heading down a rut and need to reset.”
Xavi was particularly disappointed that Shakhtar dominated Barcelona at times, even though the match was played on neutral ground in Hamburg due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with Barca,” the 43-year-old coach expressed. “We lost a lot of balls, had poor attacks, and couldn’t handle crosses well, and we paid for our mistakes.”
The defeat against Shakhtar once again raises the possibility of being eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League, as it happened in the last two seasons for Barcelona. In the 2021-2022 season, the Catalan club finished third in the group and had to play in the Europa League, where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt with an aggregate score of 3-4 in the quarter-finals. A similar scenario occurred in the previous season when Barcelona finished third in the group and then lost 3-4 to Manchester United in the Europa League play-offs.
However, Xavi is not worried and emphasizes that Barcelona still holds the key to their fate, with a home match against Porto in the next round on November 28 before visiting Antwerp in the final group match on December 13. “It’s a pity because we want to reach the knockout stage early. But we can still determine our destiny, and that’s a big positive,” he said. “We can complete the task in the next match against Porto. The entire team is lacking confidence and needs to recover. Not long ago, Barcelona played excellent football. The issue is just the mentality.”
