Even after a full match and a victory acquired thanks to a scenario returning to the lawn of the Parc des Princes, this Wednesday evening (2-3), no one will make Xavi say that his FC Barcelona is the favorite of these quarters final against PSG. At a press conference, after the meeting, he again reiterated with humility his message given the day before, when he presented himself in front of the journalists: the favorite is Paris.
“PSG are still favorites, they had a great match but we managed to minimize it,” he declared. We pressed very well. I am very proud of the team. It’s a great victory against one of the best teams in the world. They are difficult to defend against and they have a lot of offensive options. » Offensive options including Kylian Mbappé, silenced by the Catalan defense: “We covered very well and we were attentive to his races,” praised Xavi. Our defensive work made the difference. »
But tomorrow is another day and next Tuesday is yet another. Until then, FC Barcelona will play a match in Cádiz (Saturday, 9 p.m.) before meeting PSG in Montjuic for this second leg of the C1 quarter-finals. “We are halfway there,” commented the Blaugrana coach. It will be difficult in Barcelona. We will have to play the same way because PSG is a great team and Luis Enrique will not do any favors. The players believe in it, but nothing is done. We only have a small margin ahead. I hope our stadium will be a cauldron on Tuesday. »
Criticized and contested this season on the Barça bench, Xavi still enjoyed “a big away victory, which had not happened for years”. “We showed personality in the face of difficulty. It’s very difficult to dominate PSG and we did it very well. They constantly put us under pressure. We did an extraordinary job. »
