Xavi held intense feedback session with Barcelona stars after Shakhtar loss, senior players voice opinions

The 1-0 loss against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night has brought about a lot of pressure on FC Barcelona.

The result meant that the Catalans have now lost two of their last three games in all competitions, while their win against Real Sociedad last weekend was far from convincing either.

It is clear that the confidence within the locker room appears to be low at this point and it is up to manager Xavi Hernandez and his staff to help his players turn things around.

Taking the bull by the horns

And, if a report from Javi Miguel of AS is to be believed, Xavi is not wasting any time in his efforts to try and arrest this recent downslide that his Barcelona team are undergoing.

As per the report, the Barça head coach held a serious meeting with his staff and all players today, locking everyone inside the changing room for nearly an hour.

Xavi admitted after Tuesday’s defeat that it was one of the Catalans’ worst performance during his time as manager and as such, he had a serious interaction with everyone in search of solutions to reverse the situation and prevent the team from getting stuck in a rut.

The report highlights that it was a very positive meeting, where several players raised their voices and gave their points of view – especially the captains Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo.

But veterans like Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan had their say while some of the younger members of the team also spoke up.

Arrest the downslide at the earliest

Xavi appealed to the players’ pride and commitment and sought their opinions on how Barcelona can turn things around.

The report claims that the exchange was intense and ended with all parties reaching the same conclusion: they have to put an end to this loss of form as soon as possible, that nothing is lost, but that they cannot repeat the image that the team has shown in the last two games.

It was also agreed that the situation is reversible and that against Alaves Barça have a great opportunity to demonstrate to their fans that the team has recovered its good feelings.