Real Betis striker hails Xavi’s impact at Barcelona ahead of Spanish Super Cup clash

Speaking in an exclusive interview with SPORT, Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias has hailed the impact made by Xavi Hernandez at Barcelona ahead of their Spanish Super Cup semi-final showdown.

Xavi took over the reins at Camp Nou in November 2021, with the club in a dire situation at the time following a disastrous start to the season under Ronald Koeman.

But the club legend managed to salvage the situation and even though the Catalans finished the campaign without a trophy, Xavi led them to a second-place finish in La Liga, a scenario that had seemed unfathomable given the way things were when he took over.

While doubts remain over the 42-year-old, he has managed to take Barça to the top of the league standings this term and will be gunning for his first trophy this week in Saudi Arabia.

Barcelona face Real Betis in the semi-finals tomorrow and ahead of the contest, striker Borja Iglesias lauded Xavi for giving Barça an identity after arriving in a complicated situation.

“He arrived in a somewhat complicated situation at the start, but he has gradually given the team his identity. It’s becoming more and more like what he wants, which is sometimes complicated,” Iglesias said.

“It’s one thing to plan it and another to achieve it, but they are getting closer,” he added.

Talking about the mixture of experienced players and young talent within the Barcelona team, Iglesias added: “A large part of the squad is young, very capable, they will continue to grow over the next few years and they will continue to perfect their game plan.

“They also combine it with older players and that makes them a very dangerous team. Yes, little by little they will develop more, but today it’s already a reality.”

Barcelona and Real Betis will face off on Thursday night with the winners facing either Real Madrid or Valencia in the finals.

On whether it is a challenge for teams like Betis and Valencia to go up against the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid for the Super Cup, he added:

“We see it as an opportunity, it would be very nice to achieve it. We focus on Barcelona, ​​we know how difficult and important it is to beat a team of this level to get to the final, which would be amazing.”