“I talked about everything for two hours.”

After the first-class match in Antwerp, Xavi admitted that he was worried about his team: “Yes, of course, it is normal. The team is not well. We are going through a bad campaign with two negative results and we have to improve.” With six defeats in 14 matches, he is the Barcelona coach with the most defeats in the Champions League in terms of percentage.

Despite the defeat against the Belgians, Barcelona will qualify for the round of 16 as the group leader. However, the recent performance has not been so good. According to Xavi, the club needs to “be decisive” and realize that they are “not on the right track” at the moment.

The former midfielder does not want to say a bad word in public about the level of players who are still below their expectations with fourth place in the league.

It is much more a “self-confidence issue”. “We give them self-confidence, and we have made the deliberations.” Playing in Barcelona represents enormous, “noticeable” pressure among the players.

Since Barcelona were already safely in the round of 16 before the final group match, Xavi made several changes to the starting lineup. The 43-year-old discussed this approach for a long time with club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco beforehand.

The Spaniard said: “Today we spoke with the president and Deco about everything for two hours,” explaining that the changes were a “mutual decision.” Xavi added: “We do not have any problems at the internal level.”