The Barça team takes on Elche at the Camp Nou with the aim of sleeping as leader
turn the page That’s what Barcelona wants to do next Saturday at Camp Nou. The team led by Xavi will face Elche with the aim of forgetting the painful defeat to Bayern Munich as soon as possible and achieving a victory that will allow them to take the lead for the time being and go to the national team’s break with the good feeling that they had previously kept traveling to Germany.
“We are always aware of the League and more of the Madrid derby, but we are focused on winning and then we will see the other results. They are three vital points, we want to have the same sensations as in Munich, but with the victory, “Xavi said on Friday at the press conference before his team’s duel against Elche. The Tarrasa coach is aware of how important it is for the emotional aspect of his team to put a defeat like the one at the Allianz Arena behind and win again at home, in front of a crowd expecting to get on the table against the Bavarian giant.
And it is Barça jumping onto the Camp Nou pitch this Saturday to end a week full of ups and downs. The slump from the defeat to Bayern was offset by Gavi’s extension and the rush for this contract extension was finally met this Friday by another absence of Ansu Fati from the Spanish squad’s draft list. The young culé gem is still looking for her best physical tone and meanwhile Xavi calls for calm. “It’s not a mental issue, it’s a forgotten injury. He is 100 per cent, but we are making a plan with great caution,” he assured of a player who may be given another chance against Elche.
It won’t be easy for Ansu Fati, as Xavi has done it again with all his troops. Tarrasa’s coach has not been sanctioned or injured, so he will be able to field a squad that is very similar to the one that has already become his trusted team in recent weeks, but with a few minor tweaks to to ease the agglomeration of competitions. Busquets could rest instead of Frenkie de Jong, Bellerín could repeat on the right and Ansu could be the big novelty in the attack along with the untouchables Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski.
Opposite this will be a team that already knows what it’s like to complicate things, and in what way, to Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Last year, with Xavi already on the bench, Elche visited Blaugrana’s fief and did so to play a frenetic game in which they reversed a clash that seemed resolved in the first half. The initial 2-0 went to 2-2 in a demonstration of the character that characterized the team led by Francisco a few months ago. Nico gave victory to the azulgranas at the buzzer, but today that precedent is a warning to sailors in the culé locker room. “It made us complicated last season with the same coach,” warns Xavi.
The Elche of this campaign is currently far from that team without complexes that did not wrinkle in Camp Nou. Francisco’s men have started the season with four defeats and a draw, and what’s worse, they’ve barely scored two goals. The lack of goal, along with the defensive blunders and a particularly demanding calendar have already meant that they have already taken blows such as 3-0 against Betis, 4-0 against Villarreal or 1-4 against Athletic. The first goal this Saturday is to stop that bleeding and then, why not, scare upstairs like they did in the past.
Source: La Verdad
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