He Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandezaffirmed this Wednesday that “we are in permanent contact” with Leo Messi, although an eventual return of the Argentine star to Barça “will depend on him and what fits” the club.
“I already said that this is his (Messi’s) home, the doors are open, I can’t say anything else,” Xavi said at the press conference prior to the return of the play-off for access to Europa League round of 16 Thursday against Manchester United.
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The best footballer in the world and in history, always
“He is a friend, we are in permanent contact. With the ‘president’ (Joan Laporta) we talk about many things”, added the Barcelona coach, after the Spanish press reported a meeting of Jorge Messi, father of the Argentine star of Paris Saint-Germain, with Laporta.
“From there, it will depend on what (Messi) wants to do with his future and what also fits the club,” said Xavi, who when asked if Messi would fit in with his team, was resounding: “the best footballer in the world and history, always”.
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Regarding the game against United, after the 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Camp Nou, Xavi considered that “the idea is to go on the attack, be the protagonist, dominate, push. We have to match their intensity and passion.”
“We are here to compete with enthusiasm, with desire. We arrived at a good moment despite the casualties, and we have to give our best version. Manchester United are in their best form, it will be difficult, but we are going to try to go from round”, added Xavi.
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Barça faces the match with the low critics of Pedri and Gavi, but Xavi was confident. “The loss of Ousmane (Dembélé) is also capital for us, it makes a difference, it’s an important loss. Pedri and Gavi obviously too. Pedri is the reference player, he doesn’t lose balls, he’s fundamental, and Gavi is pure passion, pure intensity, which is precisely what we need tomorrow”, explained Xavi.
“You have to put the order that Pedri has, the intensity that Gavi has, but we have alternatives so that these casualties are not noticed,” Xavi concluded.
AFP
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