Xavi talks Messi, Haaland, Mbappe, Busquets, Araujo ahead of Barcelona vs Osasuna

After picking up spectacular momentum in February, Xavi’s Barcelona have been largely halted in their tracks in back to back games against Elche and Galatasaray respectively.

While they managed to shovel a win vs Elche through a late Memphis Depay penalty, all efforts in the Europa League turned futile as the Aslanlar prevented them from scoring a single goal.

With the pressure mounting on the Catalan giants, Xavi will look to defeat Osasuna tomorrow night in La Liga. Before that, however, he spoke to the media as part of his press conference.

On Osasuna: “We expect to find a block in Osasuna’s defence. They have gained confidence after the Villarreal game, it will be a complicated match.”

On using de Jong or Nico as Busquets’ substitute: “Not quite one, it could be Frenkie at times, and at others Nico. Pedri surely cannot play there, but these are just some options.”

On their approach tomorrow: “We’ll see what happens. Even if we win the Galatasaray match, we will play with the same approach tomorrow.”

On Araujo’s participation: “We’ll see. I usually choose defenders according to their characteristics, and according to the opponent. Eric is a great player as well, we’ll decide tomorrow.”

“Araujo helps us a lot and gives us better options in a number of cases. He came from Barça B, and naturally, he needs more development. But he is a very important player.”

On talking to Messi after PSG’s UCL exit: “Messi is my friend, but we did not talk. This is football, it’s the Champions League. Real Madrid came back after conceding, it’s a tournament where things like that happen all the time. It has happened to us, too.”

“I sent him a message of encouragement and support after the game. This is football, after taking the lead, in 25 minutes, and because of the intensity and pressure of Real Madrid, everything changed.”

On their previous games: “Against Atletico, we were more effective, as well as in the Napoli game. We scored early and that helped us. They played against us with an open defence.”

On choosing between Mbappe and Haaland: “These are hypotheticals. It would be great for the league if they arrive, of course, but right now I have to train Ansu, Pedri, and Busquets.”

On rotating: “I don’t think about who will play first. For us, we have to focus on the game vs Osasuna and win. We lost two points in the first leg, but still I’m not focused on the Galatasaray game at the moment.”

On Aubameyang: “It’s important to us. He’s been playing a lot lately and is tired. He did great for the balance of the team. It’s normal to get tired after all that effort, but he has helped us a lot.”

Source: BarçaTV+