Clásico victory highlights steps forward taken by Barça under Xavi

The last clásico before FC Barcelona’s 0-4 win on Sunday night saw Real Madrid defeat the Catalans 3-2 in the Super Cup in January. It was a peculiar game because it led to many within Barça celebrating their team’s performance despite the loss, much to the amusement of their victorious nemeses.

However, what players and fans were celebrating was not the result, but the manner of the performance. It was still too early in Xavi’s reign as manager to inspire passage to the Super Cup final that day, but many could see a marked improvement in the team since the earlier days of the campaign under Ronald Koeman. 

Fast forward to Xavi’s second clásico, and his first in the league, and the improvement is clear as day to all the world. 

January arrivals Aubameyang (2) and Ferran Torres provided three goals between them as they showed off their new scintillating partnership, while Araújo also found the back of the net with a thumping header.

The heavily-tilted scoreline did not flatter the Catalans either, they were much the better side in this meeting of eternal enemies, and the result is a clear statement to Madrid: “We are back.” 

We are back.

— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) March 20, 2022

This blaugrana is a different beast to the one that began this campaign under a different manager and will have their eyes set on a first La Liga crown in three years next season. 

Goals

One of the top priorities that Xavi had when he arrived at the Camp Nou dugout was to bring the intensity back to training sessions which would then seep into the performances on the pitch. After four months in charge, the difference is now visible on the pitch and in the results.

From the first ten games this season played under previous coach Ronald Koeman, Barcelona took just 15 points from the first ten league games (1.5 points per game) and were languishing in mid-table. Scoring goals had become a major issue, with just 16 in 13 games in all competitions (1.23 goals per game), and a miserly 1 netted in European competition, leaving the side with a major uphill task to qualify from the Champions League group that ultimately could not be climbed.

Since Xavi’s arrival, the team has gone from winning 1.5 to 2.3 points per league game, shooting Barça up to third in the table with a game in hand on second-placed Sevilla and just three points behind the Andalusians. 

But Xavi did not hit the ground running immediately. First, intensity and positional play needed to be worked on, but new signings in January have also helped the team step up significantly. The Terrassa coach’s first 14 games saw a similar goal return to his predecessor: 19 scored in 14 matches left a rate of just 1.35 goals per game. 

Then February came and everything has since changed for Barça. The eleven games since then have yielded 31 goals at a rate of 2.81 per match. This run has included four-goal routs of Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna, and now Real Madrid.

European run

When Xavi came in, Barcelona had a chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League but failed to beat Benfica at home, meaning they moved down to the Europa League where they will meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals. 

Another impressive aspect of the Xavi regime at Camp Nou has been managing this Europa League run. So far, Barça have come up against two tough opponents in Napoli and Galatasaray, both providing extremely hostile environments to play a game as a visiting side.

In both ties, the blaugrana drew at home in the first leg before having to win the second leg in Italy and then Turkey. In recent seasons, Barça’s form away from home in Europe has been abysmal, struggling to pick up points even in the group stage, let alone their high-profile heavy defeats snatched from the jaws of victory. 

Xavi is creating a new culture in the team, one based on a more intense work-rate that is yielding important victories that feel like wins that many previous iterations of the club would not be able to achieve.