Barcelona manager Xavi says his players won’t drive themselves “crazy” trying to find a way to stop Jude Bellingham in the Supercopa de Espana final on Sunday, and will instead focus on implementing their “Cruyffism” and ‘Barca DNA”.
Bellingham, who has 17 goals in 23 games this season, struck twice when Barcelona hosted Real Madrid back in October, dragging his side from behind to seal a 2-1 victory with a goal in the 92nd minute.
Stopping Bellingham has proven impossible for most managers this season and Xavi has admitted his focus is on working out a gameplan for Madrid as a whole.
“We won’t focus only on one player, or we’ll become crazy,” he said. “About Bellingham, I’d highlight his impact, his physical capacity and his technique. He’s simply making the difference by playing in this attacking midfield role.
“We have proved we have a winning project, but then there’s of course Real Madrid who are always hungry for trophies. I have the feeling Madrid gets even better when they see a strong Barca side that can compete against them. I’m super motivated for this.”
Asked whether he would take a scrappy win on Sunay, Xavi insisted Barcelona will take the game to Madrid and try to flex their quality on the ball.
“When has Barca won without deserving it? What has happened is the opposite many times, that we have not won when we deserved it,” he said.
“We will be faithful to Cruyffism and the Barca DNA. We will insist on how we play. There may be times when it doesn’t work out for us.
“I think we played well against Sevilla, Athletic, Madrid, Girona… We played very good football this year. I would say better than last season. But what you analyse is one thing and what I see is another. And we are going to try to repeat it and win with our identity.”
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