How Xavi Rewarded FC Barcelona Players For Winning His Special Challenge Via Valencia Victory

Xavi Hernandez has rewarded his FC Barcelona players after they won a challenge their head coach set them ahead of beating Valencia 1-0 on Sunday.

The Blaugrana battled before a crowd of 89,000 spectators at Camp Nou as Xavi also watched from the stands due to a suspension.

It seemed as though they might have been in for a straightforward sunny winter afternoon once Raphinha put them ahead on 15 minutes when finishing Sergio Busquets’ genius ball into the box with a bullet header.

Yet again, however, the Catalans struggled to put their chances away and Xavi later criticised them for not knowing how to kill games off.

Early in the second half, Ronald Araujo was sent off for being the last man that brought down Hugo Duro. This made for a tense remaining 35 minutes, where Barca had to play on the backfoot for the second game running following their defensive masterclass against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu for a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday.

Barca won by the same scoreline there too, 1-0, and though he had his grievances with the style of play exhibited in both affairs, Xavi complimented his squad’s strength of character in the La Liga clash that gave them a 10 point lead at the top of the table reduced to nine when Madrid drew away at Betis.

Xavi will also keep his word and reward his players after they won a challenge he set them by beating Valencia.

As AS reveals on Monday, Xavi has made Tuesday and Wednesday holidays which means they will have 72 hours off in total from the end of their training session this afternoon and when they have to report for duty again on Thursday.

The Valencia game was treated as a “final” by Xavi and his charges, with the result of the Madrid match at the Benito Villamarin in Sevilla said to have caused a stir in the players’ Whatsapp group which was bombared with celebratory emojis and memes.

The nine point advantage is the biggest that Barca have boasted over their bitter rivals this term, and should they win against Athletic Club and then beat Los Blancos in El Clasico at Camp Nou on March 19, the deficit could be as high as 12 which effectively hands Barca their first Spanish top flight crown since 2019.

Xavi has again shown great man-management skills here in rewarding his players but also following through on his promise despite not everything being rosy.