Xavi says Barcelona have a chance to get “back into La Liga” with a victory over Real Madrid tomorrow.
The 44-year-old’s side were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after falling to a 4-1 defeat at home to Paris Saint-Germain, but an El Clasico victory for Barcelona, who are eight points behind league leaders Real, could reignite a title charge.
Xavi, who was sent off during the defeat to PSG earlier this week, has called on his side to use the anger from their Champions League exit to fuel their performance at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to get back into LaLiga,” Xavi said. “It happens to be the most important game of the season.
“We will find a strong Madrid and even more so after eliminating the best team in the world, City. The euphoria will be sky-high and the opposition will be very strong.
“Today we trained well, yesterday we had a Champions League hangover. The team has all the enthusiasm in the world to fight for this league.
“We need to turn the anger, frustration and impotence of the other day in our favour. We have a strong and morally reinforced Real Madrid ahead of us after this week in the Champions League.”
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Barcelona lost their last encounter with Real, the 4-1 defeat in the Spanish Super Cup in January.
La Liga is the final chance Xavi has to win silverware with Barcelona this season before departing the club in the summer, and the Spaniard highlighted the importance of starting the game well on Sunday.
He added: “We talked about it today, that in the first few minutes of each half, Madrid will press. They are at home. We have to be very brave.
“It’s the perfect stage to show personality. We’ve prepared well for the game, I think we can play well and win. The first few minutes will be key, calming the game down and pressing high.”
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(Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
