Barcelona sporting director Deco said that the club has been struggling recently and understands the criticism leveled at head coach Xavi.
Former Barcelona midfielder and current sporting director Deco acknowledged that the team has been playing poorly on the field and that he understands the criticism that has been leveled, particularly directed at head coach Xavi. Though there have been rumors about Xavi’s future at Barcelona, with Rafael Marquez being tipped to take his place as manager, Deco has backed Xavi to stay with the team.
WHAT DECO SAID
Speaking to Movistar, the former Portuguese international said, “We don’t have to ratify anything, Xavi is our coach, he has a contract and he recently renewed it. And when a club renews its coach it is because it trusts him, there is no discussion. I understand that when we don’t play well and don’t win there is criticism, but that’s normal. This is football and we are used to it.
“It’s normal, we know that rumours are normal at Barça when they don’t play well. But we know what we want on a day-to-day basis, we know that we had to bring players back when we thought we had everyone, Gavi got injured. But this is football and the important thing is the day-to-day, how hard we work, how much we suffer in defeat and this is a team.”
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The Catalan giants narrowly escaped an FC Porto scare in the Champions League on Tuesday as they came back from behind to beat the Portuguese giants 2-1 riding on Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix’s strikes.
Prior to the game, the five-time Champions League winners had managed to win just two out of their last five outings across all competitions including a defeat in El Clasico and a loss against Shakhtar Donetsk.
WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?
The reigning La Liga champions are currently four points behind league leaders Real Madrid as they prepare to take on Atletico Madrid in a crucial league clash on Sunday at home.
