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Appointed on the bench of FC Barcelona before the last two matches of the group stage of the Champions League, Xavi failed. A victory on the 5th day against Benfica would have validated the qualification in the eighth, but the draw conceded at home (0-0) forced the Blaugrana to play their destiny on the lawn of Bayern, with a new defeat at the end ( 0-3) … and a transfer to the Europa League. To the chagrin of the Barcelona coach …
“I told the players that a new era was beginning, that we had to be more demanding of ourselves and that this match had to be a turning point to work together and change the dynamic. The Europa League is our reality and we can’t afford it, regretted the former midfielder. (…) I feel responsible because I am in charge of the team, I thought we could be more competitive and the reality is that we were not. Today we are starting from scratch and we will work to bring Barca to where they deserve to be, which is to say not in the Europa League. “