Barça needs to get out of the tunnel in Mendizorroza

Barça is looking for a victory this Sunday in Mendizorroza that will allow them to forget. Xavi’s team has plunged into its umpteenth sporting crisis this season with defeats in the Super Cup and Copa del Rey and needs three vital points to get hooked on the fight for Champions League qualifying spots. A victory would open that path, while a new setback would make a sinkhole that continues to grow unstoppable in this 2022 even bigger.

“We believe a lot in this model and this idea, but we urgently need a positive result. I know there are no transition years here. It’s a very difficult time, but right now you can see the players, the coaches, the presidents and the fans.” This is how Xavi presented himself at the press conference prior to the game that his team is playing this Sunday against Alavés. The Tarrasa coach is aware of the situation his team is going through, believes that “perhaps more time is needed than I thought” and asks for “patience” for the reconstruction that the team has ahead.

Xavi demanded calm on the eve of a new final. Barça fell to Real Madrid, did the same against Athletic and now has another capital duel, this time in the League. The culés have arrived at day 22 immersed in full uncertainty. The azulgrana team has not been able to get back on track and, although they have gone five games without losing, they have still not managed to settle in the Champions League positions or beat any of the favorites for the title. Barcelona needs to win if they don’t want their rivals in the fight for the ticket to the highest European competition to open a gap for third and fourth place, priority objectives today at Can Barça.

For this final in Mendizorroza, Xavi will not be able to count on Ansu Fati. The young winger relapsed against Athletic from the injury to the femoral biceps of his left leg and will be away from the pitch, in principle, for four to six weeks. His loss joins those of Eric García, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto and Wagué, all absent due to injury. Neither will Ousmane Dembélé be against Alavés, to whom the club has already opened the door in this winter market and with whom Xavi will not be able to count on from now on.

Ferran Torres will debut in the League

Thus, Xavi will put an eleven in contention with everything he has to try to win a transcendental victory. Dani Alves will repeat on the right side, Pedri could start for the first time in the league since his return and Ferran Torres will debut as a culé in the domestic championship. It will be an eleven in which, as happened in Mallorca or Granada, Luuk de Jong will act as a stiletto at the point of attack with the aim of lengthening the scoring streak that has led him to enter fully into Xavi’s plans.

It will not be an easy game for Barça. Alavés arrives at the appointment wounded after the latest results, they have not won in the League since November 6, and in the match against the Barça team they have an opportunity to generate a turning point. The babazorros, penultimate in the championship, need to get out of the relegation places and what better way to do it than to do it against an important rival and against whom they already know what it feels like to give the bell.

Alavés achieved a draw in the first round at the Camp Nou (1-1) and injured a Barça that at that time was directed by Ronald Koeman. It has changed life for the Catalans and also for an Alavés team that has only won one game since then and is now directed by José Luis Mendilibar. The Basque coach aspires to beat a Barça that he has only managed to win once in the 25 games he has directed. A pending account that he will try to solve with a team in crisis, but in which he will be able to count, yes, with all his players, with the exception of Ximo Navarro, absent due to a knee injury.