Barcelona head coach Xavi responded to critics by asking, “Who’s laughing now” after his facet progressed previous Napoli within the Champions League final 16.
The Catalan facet progressed in a Champions League knockout match for the primary time since 2020, additionally in opposition to Napoli on the similar stage of the competitors.
Barcelona have suffered a collection of painful European exits since, dropping that yr’s quarter-final 8-2 in a one-legged tie in opposition to Bayern Munich, earlier than a 5-2 combination loss to Paris Saint-Germain on the final 16 stage in 2021 and successive group stage exits in 2022 and 2023.
Fermin Lopez, Joao Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski had been all heading in the right direction as Barcelona gained the second leg 3-1 after final month’s 1-1 attract Naples to seal their progress.
“Now we have obtained unfair criticism,” Xavi mentioned after the match. “There was an excessive amount of stress on the gamers like ultimatums, life or dying.
“It was mentioned that we had been the joke of the Champions League — who’s laughing now?”
“I attempted to take the stress off the gamers, to inform them to relax and that no one was dying at present.
“This was one in all my greatest moments as a coach. I’m actually glad and proud. All of the gamers, younger and previous, have taken an essential step ahead, this is a crucial day for Barcelona.”
The quarter-final draw for the Champions League takes place on March 15.
GO DEEPER
Barcelona’s evening of La Masia magic as Cubarsi leads Champions League progress
(Stuart Franklin/Getty Pictures)
