“We didn’t expect it”; Barcelona manager Xavi now shares what surprised him regarding Arsenal in today’s friendly match
Xavi, the manager of Barcelona, stated after his team’s 5-3 loss to Arsenal today that he was taken aback by the ferocity displayed by Mikel Arteta’s squad.
After suffering a loss at the hands of Manchester United over the weekend, Arsenal responded positively to the setback by playing better in California.
Both Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha scored for Barcelona in the first half, giving the Catalan club a 2-0 lead after the first period. However, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz brought things to a level playing field for the Gunners.
The second half was dominated by Arsenal thanks to two goals scored by Leandro Trossard. These goals placed Arsenal well in control of the match. Ferran Torres was able to pull one back for Xavi’s team, but a spectacular goal by Fabio Vieira meant that Arsenal would come away with a 5-3 victory.
After the preseason friendly match, Xavi gave an interview to the media in which he stated that his team wasn’t ready for the energy that Arsenal brought to the match.
Xavi was caught off guard by Arsenal Football.After the match, London journalist Kaya Kaynak took to Twitter to relay Xavi’s reaction to the question of whether or not he was surprised by Arsenal’s level of effort. The question was posed to Barca’s manager in response to Xavi’s remark.
“Our intensity didn’t surprise me, but theirs did,” Xavi remarked. “theirs was much higher than ours.” “It’s not unusual for there to be such a high level of competition, and for there to be a significant number of injuries and yellow cards.
They surprised us by performing at a very high level of both energy and rhythm throughout the entire set.
Even though today’s match was only a preseason friendly, Xavi shouldn’t have been shocked to see Arsenal play at such a fast pace because Arteta has always instilled in his team the importance of playing at a fast pace.
After suffering a loss to Manchester United by the score of 2-0 over the weekend, Arteta would have been seeking for a response from his players in order to motivate them. It is safe to say that he did obtain one.
Today, particularly in terms of their offensive play, the Gunners displayed a number of positive signals that bode well for the team’s future.
“We didn’t expect it”; Barcelona manager Xavi now shares what surprised him regarding Arsenal in today’s friendly match