Barcelona problems are ‘a matter of confidence’ – Xavi

Xavi has admitted that Barcelona are suffering from a crisis of confidence as the shock Champions League defeat at Antwerp piled more pressure on to the manager.

The Belgian side, making their debut in the competition this season, had failed to win any of their first five matches in Group H.

But goals from Arthur Vermeeren, Vincent Janssen and then George Ilenikhena in stoppage time earned them a famous 3-2 win over the Spanish giants in the final round of fixtures.

Barca had already qualified as group winners but another disappointing result, following on so closely from defeat by Girona in La Liga on Sunday, will only add to the criticism currently being aimed at the manager.

Xavi was disappointed by what he saw and admits confidence is low in the group amid a bad run of form.

“I don’t like to criticise my players. I don’t think it’s positive, but they have to cheer up,” he said. “They have more than what they are showing. Again, we had some important individual mistakes here tonight. Last Sunday we played a good game. Tonight, the feeling is not good.

“It’s a matter of confidence. The coaching staff is giving the players full confidence. We have rotated and given a chance to players. Now it’s a matter to be inspired, and right now we’re not. Barcelona’s shirt has a lot of weight, there’s added pressure and players need to deal with it.”

It had been suggested ahead of the game that club president Joan Laporta had put pressure on Xavi to play his star players in what was a dead rubber but the manager played such talk down.

“I have the feeling there’s been a lot of unnecessary tension created on the build-up to this game,” he added.

“We should be happy to get qualified for the knock-out stages, something we couldn’t do in the previous two seasons. Sometimes we need to remember where we come from.

“Tension comes from the outside. Inside, we don’t have a bad feeling. What happened with the list was a consensus decision. Robert (Lewandowski) came to us and said he was ready to play. (Ilkay) Gundogan also told us he was feeling fine. Then we made the call, but it’s not the case that someone was undermined here.

“I have the full confidence from president Laporta and Deco. We have been speaking for almost two hours today and everything is going well. You can take any conclusion you want.

“I am positive. I think I can revert the situation. We are alive in four different competitions. Champions League was our main target to improve this season and we have done it. We just need to regroup, focus and get better for the next game.”

Xavi’s side — fourth in La Liga — return to action away at Valencia on Saturday.

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(John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)