Xavi Stresses Barcelona’s ‘Construction Phase’ After Girona Setback

Following Barcelona’s humbling at the hands of Girona last night, the club’s gaffer Xavi Hernández believes the team is still in construction despite his appointment on November 6, 2021.

Xavi Hernandez has the 2nd worst win rate of any coach of Barcelona in the last 15 years. 😬🇪🇸

Xavi has a worse win rate than Quique Setien (64% vs 62.16%) , only Ronald Koeman has a worse win rate (58.2%). 🫣

[@LaLigaenDirecto] pic.twitter.com/3aYCfs9CR4

— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) December 10, 2023

Girona defeated the Blaugrana 4-2 at the Estadio Olímpico Lluís Companys yesterday to emerge top of the La Liga table on 41 points, condemning the defending champions to the fourth position with 34 points.

“I think we had the better of the game, we created a lot of chances. Without playing badly we picked up a bad result,” Xavi said post-match.

He continued: “We have to work on our defending and finishing. We lost because of that. We have not taken our chances and in defence, we paid for our mistakes.

“It’s a blow as we are 7 behind Girona and 5 behind Real Madrid, level with Atlético. But that’s the reality, this is a Barça team in construction and that means moving forward and back. I think this is the way to go, no doubt, we will keep working.” 

Next up for Barcelona in the league will be a trip to Valencia on December 16th, as Xavi and his men will be looking to get the most out of their round 17th game.