“It Means a Champions League Game” – Barcelona Boss Xavi Calls Out Mikel Arteta for ‘Not Normal’ Intensity During 5–3 Friendly Loss

The soccer world is amid exciting pre-season friendlies among clubs all around the globe. Each day, fans get to see their favorite teams face off before the actual season begins. Likewise, Spanish champions FC Barcelona and English side Arsenal also locked horns today. The match ended in favor of the Londoners, but Barcelona’s coach Xavi Hernandez has a complaint regarding the match. After all, Arsenal had three yellow cards which is not a recurrent theme in these games.

It was quite an exciting game as the Gunners thrashed the Catalans with a massive scoreline. In fact, it truly didn’t seem like a friendly match! This is something that the Barca coach pointed out to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Xavi confronts Mikel Arteta for not playing a ‘friendly’ match

It was quite an enthralling match as Barcelona lost 3-5 against Arsenal. Certainly, the scoreboard doesn’t look quite like a typical friendly match, as both sides played an eight-goal thriller. Notably, as the final whistle blew, Xavi had a tête-à-tête with Mikel Arteta.

Their discussion caught the camera’s attention, which eventually enticed a journalist to ask him what was that he said to the Arsenal manager. To that, Xavi responded, “Well, I said to Mikel at the end of the game that it means a Champions League game because the intensity they put in was not normal for usually in a friendly game but it stands perfectly. Everybody wants to win.”

Xavi said that he complained to Arteta for playing the Gunners in a very intense mood. He insisted that the intensity of today’s match was no less intense than a typical Champions League match. However, in the end, the Catalan manager believed both sides wanted to win, and his comment is a compliment for Arsenal as they did it perfectly. Arteta later responded,

“Playing in front of 70,000 people creates an atmosphere and these are elite players, who of course want to win. At the end I think, I got too much for a friendly but football belongs to the players, and as soon as the game starts, they’ll do what they want.”

It looks like Arteta and the Gunners are in for another marvelous season. Nevertheless, let’s dive deeper into how they managed to win the game.

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How Arsenal perfectly dominated LaLiga champs FC Barcelona

The 5-3 score definitely tells how exciting the match would have been. Apparently, the Blaugranas broke the deadlock in just under seven minutes, thanks to a strike from their star forward, Robert Lewandowski. However, they couldn’t hold the lead much longer as Bukayo Saka equalized in the 13th minute. Barca took their time to find another goal as Raphinha doubled their lead. But once again, the La Liga side failed to hold on to their lead as Kai Havertz found the back of the net.

After ending the first half with a 2-2 draw, both sides went on to play the other half of the game. Unfortunately, Xavi’s second-half plan didn’t work as Leandro Trossard bagged a brace within the span of 20 minutes. Barcelona’s third goal from Ferran Torres in the 88th minute did indicate their urge for a comeback. However, it was put to bed just after a minute by the Gunners as Fabio Vieira scored the fifth goal.

Indeed, it was quite an entertaining fixture that both sides put on for the fans. And it fills the English side’s fandom with good hopes for the upcoming season. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.

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