Xavi Lauds Barcelona Starlet After Athletic Club Win: “Biggest Revelation Of This Season”
Speaking after the 1-0 win over Athletic Club on Sunday night, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez reserved special praise for youngster Alejandro Balde.
The 19-year-old was one of the standout performers for the Blaugrana as they came away with a hard-fought win against Ernesto Valverde’s side at a hostile San Mames.
Balde showed good energy on the left flank, making probing runs forward while holding his own defensively on the flanks.
And, Xavi was full of praise for the teenager, claiming that he was the biggest surprise package of the season, while also lauding his maturity.
“Alejandro Balde’s potential is immense, to build a long career here at Barça. He’s the biggest surprise and revelation of this season. He’s at a very high level and he’s maturing even more,” Xavi said.
Highlighting the importance of the win for the team, the manager added: “This is a golden victory for us, golden three points. We played well for 70-80 minutes, but in a stadium like this, it’s normal if we suffer at the end. They press a lot.”
While he was happy with the result, Xavi insisted that the team had to improve in some aspects, saying: “We have many things to improve regarding the offensive aspect of the game. We had 2 or 3 chances to score another goal. I remember one by Ansu…”
“We need to have more patience and be more calm. We’re having the same problem in every match. We have to be able to find the free man. Today, it was Gavi coming from the left,” he added.
However, he was happy with the defensive performance of the team this season, as he said: “We’ve won many games by 1-0, so this is where the defensive solidity comes in.”
“I’m proud of how this team is competing. Today, 10 players came running back from a corner in 3 seconds. This is embodied in players like Gavi. I’m excited, because it’s very difficult to achieve this.”
On the noise created by the Negreira scandal and whether it is affecting the team, Xavi said: “In the dressing room we haven’t talked about the Negreira case, or about whether we will be punished in Europe. We have to focus, we’re professionals. The president has already spoken.”
“People are making conclusions about the Negreira case early on, and that saddens me. That’s all that I have to say.”
The manager also stated that he was not pleased with the hostile reception that his team received at San Mames, saying: “I’m sad with the hostile atmosphere in San Mamés today. They’ve always treated Barcelona and me very well here.”
