Barca excited to compete for the Europa League

Record ID: 1663113

  • Title: Barca excited to compete for the Europa League
  • Date: 9th March 2022
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (MARCH 9, 2022) (REUTERS) XAVI ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA SHOWING XAVI ON THE DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA COACH, XAVI HERNANDEZ, SAYING: “This competition makes us excited. Despite not being the Champions League, it is still a European competition. We got a very good feeling against Napoli. Tomorrow we have to play a great game at home again in front of our fans. We are in a very good dynamic and it must be difficult for us to get out of this dynamic. If we all work the way we are and make the effort in pressing and defending, we cannot get out from this dynamic. We have to approach the game the same way we did the last ones; go on the attack, create opportunities, push forward with our playing style, improved a lot and we have to look for a great result. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to go to Turkey and win the match.”
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2022 14:12
  • Keywords: Barcelona Europa League Frenkie de Jong Galatasaray Xavi Xavi Hernandez
  • Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • City: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Europe,Soccer,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002337709032022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Barcelona are excited to compete to win the Europa League, coach Xavi Hernandez said on Wednesday (March 9).
    Barca host Galatasaray on Thursday in the last-16 first leg of the second-tier European competition. Although the Europa League is a step down from Barcelona's usual standards, it represents a chance to finish the season on a positive note.
    “This competition makes us excited. Despite not being the Champions League, it is still a European competition,” said Hernandez.
    With Real Madrid leading the LaLiga standings comfortably, 15 points ahead of third-placed Barcelona, the Europa League looks like the only way to win a trophy this season for Xavi Hernandez's side.
    After eliminating Serie A contenders Napoli in the previous round, they are favourites to triumph in the final at Seville's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in May but Hernandez preferred to dial excitement down a notch.
    “I don’t see us as one of the favorites. We don’t know the competition, we have never won it. I think favorites are the latest champions, Sevilla, for example should be more favorite than us, for sure,” he told a news conference previewing their match at the Camp Nou.
    Barca are unbeaten since Jan. 20, when they lost 3-2 after extra time to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey. A sense of euphoria is palpable at Camp Nou now that they are back in the Champions League qualification spots having fallen as low as ninth in November, when former coach Ronald Koeman was sacked
    (Production: Horaci Garcia, Silvio Castellanos)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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