Xavi’s half-time talk during Real Madrid vs Barcelona Super Cup final lacked energy – report

FC Barcelona succumbed to a disheartening 4-1 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final last night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Blaugrana began the game in the worst possible manner, letting in two goals within the first ten minutes and there appeared no way back from thereon.

While Robert Lewandowski did pull a goal back, another strike from Vinicius Jr., who completed his hat-trick before half-time, appeared to have knocked the winds out of the sail for Barça.

Xavi’s half-time talk was soft, uninspiring

As Barcelona players went into the dressing room at half-time, they and the fans would have been expecting a fiery and strong talk from manager Xavi Hernandez given how things had gone in the first period.

After all, the manager had been harsh and critical of his players in a similar situation in the La Liga clash against Almeria last month.

But, as per Javi Miguel of AS, Xavi’s half-time talk during the Real Madrid encounter last night was anything but strong and harsh.

The report states that the players were expecting a version very similar to that of Xavi in Almeria: hitting everything in front of him, shouting from the rooftops, and pointing fingers.

However, despite the bad first half, the team found Xavi with little desire to talk during the break, offering the right slogans, encouraging his players, and asking for a little more commitment.

But there was no shouting, no anger, no fury, no nothing. “It looked like he had run out of rope,” said one of the witnesses.

Things went only downhill from there for Barcelona in the second half as the players showed no reaction, no ambition, and no desire to try and mount a fightback.

Tuesday will be an important day for Xavi’s project, as a summit is scheduled with the squad to analyse the defeat. The 43-year-old remains convinced that he is capable of turning the situation around and getting the team out of the doldrums.