The Catalan coach intends to play the Europa League to the full, with the hope of returning to the Champions League as soon as possible, and this requires a good result against Naples on Thursday evening (6:45 p.m.).
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We have known for almost two months that FC Barcelona would no longer be in the Champions League, but seeing the downgrading of the Catalan club may be strange for many people. Barça host Napoli in the round of 16 first leg of the Europa League, Thursday February 17, making his return to C3 for the first time since 2003-2004.
But no way to mope and take this competition lightly for Xavi. “The message is clear: our main objective is to return to the Champions League next year, and this competition is an additional opportunity to achieve this. There are two ways to get there, either through La Liga (Barça currently occupies 4th place in the Spanish Championship, which allocates the last ticket for the C1), or through the Europa League. And we’ll take our chance“, warned the Barça coach at a press conference.
“It’s not the Champions League, that’s for sure, but it’s now our reality. So we are going to play this competition thoroughly. I am very motivated, and the players too“, wished to reassure the Blaugrana technician, who used his experience as a player to support his remarks. Indeed, he was part of the last Barça team to have played in C3, 18 years ago, alongside by Ronaldinho and Patrick Kluivert.
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“I remember it was very difficult. We did not win it, and it is a title that Barça has never won in its history (…). The Europa League is not D3! There are big teams like Sevilla, Villarreal, Napoli… Against Napoli it will be a Champions League level confrontation“, he warned.
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