Xavi Hernández: “It annoys us not being able to play in the Champions League”

The coach of BarcelonaXavi Hernández, affirmed that the Europe League It is “a great opportunity” to compete in a continental tournament, although he admitted feeling “annoyed” for not playing in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

In the press conference prior to the first leg of the round of 32 against Napoli, the coach assessed the second European club competition which, according to what he said, he faces as a “candidate” to win it and not as a “favorite”.

“It is courageous not to be in the ‘Champions’, but that has to be revealed to us to play it again”, answered Xavi when asked about the duel that Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid played last night in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

The Catalan coach prefers to focus on the round of 32 of the Europa League, one of the ways that Barcelona has to play the next edition of the Champions League.

“It is an opportunity for us. We have a situation in the club and the main objective is to play the next ‘Champions’. We have two ways: enter the top four or win the Europa League”, he recalled.

For this reason, he urged the fans to go to the Camp Nou tomorrow to encourage his pupils who, in his opinion, are facing a “strong” rival.

“Napoli have high-level footballers, it’s a ‘Champions’ level team. Analyzing them you see that they have a lot of potential”, defended Xavi, who expects “an open tie” against one of the “rockiest” teams in Europe.

The game comes in a week in which the coach celebrates one hundred days on the Barça bench, a stage that, with a laugh, he recognized that “it seems like a hundred years have passed”.