Laporta supervises Xavi to activate the players more Football | Sports

“Last week did a lot of damage.” The phrase comes from the Camp Nou dome. There are few clubs in the world that jump from euphoria to disappointment as quickly as Barcelona, ​​and none are as vindictive in the good times as self-destructive in the bad. Having secured passage to the last 16 of the Champions League after two successive seasons of exile in the Europa League and having beaten Atletico Madrid’s new sensation Diego Pablo Simeone, there was a sense of relief in Barcelona’s Sports City. “We weathered the storm,” one employee commented. However, at least…

“Last week did a lot of damage.” The phrase comes from the Camp Nou dome. There are few clubs in the world that jump from euphoria to disappointment as quickly as Barcelona, ​​and none are as vindictive in the good times as self-destructive in the bad. Having secured passage to the last 16 of the Champions League after two successive seasons of exile in the Europa League and having beaten Atletico Madrid’s new sensation Diego Pablo Simeone, there was a sense of relief in Barcelona’s Sports City. “We weathered the storm,” one employee commented. However, when they least expected it – and the classification warned – Michel’s impressive team emerged and stripped Xavi’s Barcelona. One of the coaches closest to president Joan Laporta summed up: “It hurt us that Girona beat us in playing football.”

After Girona’s win in Montjuïc, Laporta realized it was time to put pressure on the coaching staff. Barcelona’s senior managers had already been alerted to the team’s physical shortcomings, and they did not like four of the heavyweights in the squad. [De Jong, Lewandowski, Gündogan y Araujo] They will not travel to Belgium to play the match against Antwerp. “The vacation is over,” one boss complained. “These four aren’t going to spend three days doing nothing after touching each other’s balls last week.” Information had reached the ears of Barcelona’s leaders that there was some kind of relaxation between the technical staff and the players. A hypothesis that, according to them, was confirmed after analyzing Barcelona’s work week before hosting Girona: two days off, plus an entertaining half-day in which the team raced karts at the initiative of the technical staff. It was a reward for the employees for the challenge they had overcome. It’s something you’ve been doing your whole life. Luis Enrique took them to PortAventura,” explains one employee.

The most aggressive team in Laporta’s entourage always monitors the team’s rest days. “Out of the last 84 normal days we’ve had [no cuentan las jornadas FIFA]We trained in 57 matches and played 19 matches. This means they only had eight days off. “Eight days out of 84!” The same sources confirm; “And five of them won it in the results awards. Are they that relaxed?” Although Laporta publicly shows affection for the coach – “We have stood up many times and now we will not be an exception. Força Barça!”, Jordi Finestres, a member of the presidential cabinet, posted on social media – Barcelona’s top technical director begins to supervise the coach’s work, Especially since Deco hit Matteo Alemany. “In any job, the president supervises the work of his employees. But Xavi and Jean have already agreed: the president may be a huge football fan, but his opinions are fairly fair.

In any case, Laporta intervened in the call for the match against Antwerp. After thinking with Dr. Ricard Bruna, it was decided that Lewandowski, Gundogan and Araujo would travel with their colleagues to Belgium so as not to miss three days of work. De Jong stayed at Barcelona after Barcelona’s doctors understood that it was not a good idea for a player suffering from a cold to join the rest of the team. Doctors justify this by saying: “I can infect them.” It was curious how the Barcelona entity was responsible for clarifying that information published by a member of the sports talk show RAC1 about an alleged discussion between Deco and De Jong regarding his absence from the exploratory trip to Belgium was false, but he did not mention it was reported when the same station said that Laporta ordered Lewandowski. Gundogan and Araujo board the plane. “A consensual decision,” the two parties initially agreed. But Deco raised doubts again: “The coach made the decision.”

Xavi did not like the sporting director’s attitude very much. An issue being discussed in the Camp Nou offices. “No one at the club wants to do without Xavi, on the contrary,” comments a senior manager. “We spent a lot of time on the trip to Belgium with Laporta. “We talk, we tell stories, we remember the times Xavi spent as a player… There are no hard feelings with the president,” Barcelona staff say. Laporta looks at Xavi. And Xavi is at the players. Barcelona coach after the defeat in Belgium: “I do not want to criticize anyone publicly.” In the locker room, the idea that the coach’s message does not suit, begins to be suspicious of the staff, especially the physical preparation. “There is only one player who complained. He wanted us to practice more. “Only one out of 23 is not a reference,” answered Xavi’s entourage.

Individual wars between players are not new in football, nor are they internal to Barcelona. And while they in the sporting department are aware that Rafa Marquez could be an umbrella in the event of a hasty Xavi farewell – “You never know what could happen,” says one executive – the hard core in the dressing room does not trust the Mexican. Subsidiary company. “Xavi is a legend for most players, Marquez is not. “Everyone knows he is a Deco man,” complains one of the group’s leaders. “He is qualified for the position he holds, so let’s hope for good results in the future. You have to believe in him,” the Mexican tried to support his former teammate. “Despite the sporting disappointments that are also part of the sporting world, we will never give up as long as day after day we feel proud to represent the best club,” Laporta said at the club’s Christmas dinner in attendance. In the world.” From the players and the technical staff: “I ask us to support, today more than ever, and more than ever before, our players and our coach to accompany them on the path to victory. “Together we can achieve this.”

Once again, Xavi scores the goal. And he does not hide it. “Against Valencia, it’s a final.” It’s not even halfway through the league yet, but Laporta’s dominance has gone beyond that.

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