"We must be one of the worst teams in Europe", Xavi's confession about Barcelona

Barcelona are in trouble. They have not shown good performances during the last few weeks and the results are proof of that. In Champions League they secured their place in the round of 16, being leaders of group H as well, but they lost two of their last three matches.

And in La Liga they also suffered painful defeats against Real Madrid and Girona, their main rivals in the competition for the title. Added to that was last Saturday's 1-1 draw against Valencia at Mestalla, which left them in third place in the standings with 35 points, 9 points off the top.

The disappointing results they have obtained in their last few games have caused harsh criticism against some of the squad's players, but especially against Xavi Hernandez. The coach has been questioned about some strategic decisions, as well as his lack of reaction and solutions in the face of adversity. And he is very sincere when talking about the team's problems. In fact, he shocked everyone by assuring: "We must be one of the worst teams in Europe in terms of effectiveness". However, he immediately clarified: "But producing it we must be one of the best".

This Wednesday Los Blaugranas will have another challenge. At the Olympic Stadium Lluis Companys in Montjuic they will face Almeria, the bottom of the standings in the Spanish league. About this match, the manager said: “We need the victory. Three points and continue believing. There is still league, we have mathematical options to win. It has become difficult but we have to go step by step and tomorrow is a step. We are playing at home, we need the fans and we need to play the complete game that we have been missing so far”.

They are also focused on Europe

This Monday, the draw for the Champions League round of 16 was made and Barcelona will face Napoli. About their next opponents, Xavi said: "We play against the reigning champions of Italy. Last year they managed to win the league. They are in a similar situation to us. Last year's coach is no longer with us and we'll see how each team is doing in two months' time. It's a difficult tie, but our goal is to get through".