Xavi Hernández, coach of FC Barcelona, revealed this Tuesday after the 4-2 away victory against Viktoria Pilsen that now the team’s new objective is to win the UEFA Europa League, which they will play from January.
The new goal was set by Xavi despite assuring that with the team’s experience last year they understood that winning the UEFA Europa League is not as easy as it seems.
“Last year we saw that it is a complicated competition (the Europa League) and this year it has been very nice with the teams that are there”, he commented at a press conference.
For that reason he spoke about the real possibilities of FC Barcelona and how with the team they have, people can locate them as one of the favorites to lift the Cup.
“The goal is to reach the Europa League final and win it. We are one of the candidates to win the Europa League. I understand that people label us favorites, ”he expressed.
The bad news of the night was Franck Kessie’s injury, in a development that Xavi described as worrying.
“Kessie is sick, she’s f*cked up because she hurt her hamstrings. He is an option for the center position, he has done very well. It’s a shame his injury”, he said.
Finally, the strategist was asked if he knew if the defender Gerard Piqué would be part of the pre-list of the Spanish coach Luis Enrique for Qatar 2022, but did not want to reveal anything.
“We have been informed that there is a pre-list, but they have told us that the names are confidential. It’s not me who has to say anything about this“, he sentenced.