Xavi talks Pedri, Dest, Araujo, Garcia, and de Jong following Valencia 1-4 Barcelona

A proud Xavi Hernandez faced the press after his team’s ruthless 4-1 rout of Valencia at Mestalla. Barcelona played an excellent game for the most part with some clinical performances in front of goal. The manager spoke about Pedri, Jose Bordalas, and the performance.

Speaking about the performance, Xavi praised the first-half display. However, being the perfectionist that he is, he did not hesitate to express his disappointment over the second half.

“The first half was very good, then we suffered. It wasn’t a brilliant game but we are leaving a difficult field with the 3 points.”

The manager then showered praise for Pedri, who scored a stunner on the night.

“There is no bigger talent in the world than Pedri. We have to take care of him. He is just 19!”

Valencia under Jose Bordalas have been a physical team who relentlessly press until the last minute. Speaking about the opponents’ tactics, he said, “We knew how to be competitive and withstand Valencia’s pressure.”

He then acknowledged that the second half was always going to be more difficult, especially given the brand of football Bordalas’ team play.

“The spaces have to be attacked, and we understand that much better. The first half was sensational. The second half was good. I’m very happy, but we needed more calm in the second half, against Bordalas is complicated.”

Elaborating on his praise for Pedri, the coach explained why the Golden Boy winner is a generational talent. Coming from a legend like Xavi himself, these words will be a dream come true for the teenager.

“Pedri is superb, what he does, how he turns, the timing of space-time. Perhaps he is already the best in the world in his position, it is wonderful to have him on the team. He gives us pause, calm, now he scores goals. He is a brilliant player.”

The former Spanish international then made a strange comment about the performance and compared it with the midweek game against Napoli.

“I think we played better against Napoli than today against Valencia.”

Mestalla has been a difficult stadium to visit over the years for Barcelona. Acknowledging the same, he commented,

“Winning at a stadium like Mestalla, which is always difficult, gives us a lot of confidence, of course.”

Ronald Araujo was expected to be benched on the night, especially given the crucial game midweek. However, Xavi revealed the reason why the Uruguayan played despite just returning from injury.

“I personally asked Araujo to play, that we needed him. We asked Eric to put up with the discomforts at half-time, Frenkie also had some discomforts. I’m delighted with the players.”

The first half had numerous decisions referred to VAR, most of which went Barcelona’s way tonight. When asked about it, Xavi was as diplomatic as he has been about referees and VAR, saying, “VAR is difficult, one day it benefits us and another it doesn’t.”

A lot has been made about Xavi Hernandez not being impressed by Sergino Dest’s level. The manager confirmed that it was true, but added that the player has significantly improved.

“Sergino Dest is at a sensational level. When I arrived he wasn’t so good and now he’s great both with and without the ball.”

The trio of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets defined an era for FC Barcelona. The current crop of players could, however, go and define an era. Xavi, for one, could not agree more.

“I hope Nico, Gavi and Pedri can give us a lot of joy and go beyond what Busquets, Iniesta and I did in the past.”

Source: BarçaTV+