According to Tasnim news agency, the Barcelona football team won its home match against Alaves today (Sunday) in which the visiting team scored only 17 seconds after the start, thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s double in the second half, and three vital points in this game to maintain their distance from Real. Madrid and Girona took the lead. This game turned out to be much more troublesome for Xavi Hernandez and his students than expected. A group of fans, who were unhappy with Barcelona’s previous performances and the team’s home loss in El Clasico, showed their displeasure by whistling after seeing the disastrous start of the Catalans. Xavi Hernandez attributed all this to the negative wave of the Spanish media against his team.
He said: “Now I have no doubts that the criticism of the media is affecting my team.” This happened to me when I was a player and now I am experiencing it as a coach. The negative wave that has formed against our team is hurting us, especially the younger players who are more affected by these criticisms. They are young and we have to take care of them.
Xavi said about Barcelona’s performance against Barcelona: In terms of the regional game, our performance was not bad, but I agree that we had problems when changing the phase of the game. After the start of the second half, we had a very good half hour and really improved, but we still have room for improvement. It takes dedication and character to win games. Anyway, we won an important victory. The next two weeks off (for holding national games) will help us to improve the situation of the team. I am optimistic. I believe we have made some progress in this game but it still needs to continue.
The head coach of Barcelona also said about Lewandowski, who became the savior of this team with his two goals: Lewandowski always gets his pay in the end, because he is hardworking, has motivation, personality and leadership power. Today, our team did an important job against a tough Alaves.
In response to a reporter who asked him about the fans’ whistling, Xavi said: “Honestly, I didn’t hear any whistling.” I was more attentive to the situation of our young players and I was looking for a solution to solve the problems of the team. However, if the fans are angry, it is our fault, but our young players are experiencing tensions that have not been heard of in our team for almost a month. Our team is going through hard times right now and we need to find a way to change this situation.