“Real Madrid have a winning gene and Barcelona have fallen asleep”: Xavi

Xavi’s comments come days after Real Madrid lifted their third consecutive Champions League title.

Barcelona’s legendary midfielder Xavi has criticised FC Barcelona in his interview to El Penalti. The Barcelona great slammed the club for falling asleep, while Real Madrid continues to dominate Europe.

The Los Blancos won their third consecutive Champions League title last Saturday, when they beat Liverpool 3-1. Interestingly, Zinedine Zidane shocked everyone when he announced his resignation as the manager of Real Madrid yesterday.

In his interview, Xavi said, “Madrid have a winning gene and Barca have fallen asleep.” Xavi won four Champions League titles with FC Barcelona, and was a part of the Pep Guardiola era, which was arguably the best Barcelona side in history.

“They [Real Madrid] have been dormant for years with signings and that takes its toll,” Xavi says.

Xavi also talked about Real Madrid’s luck in the Champions League. He believes that the Madrid club have been lucky in their fixtures, which led to their Champions League triumph this season.

“Real Madrid had everything in sight. Injured players like [Paris Saint-Germain star] Neymar, [Bayern Munich’s Arjen] Robben, [Jerome] Boateng, the referees,” he said.

He also talked about the final. “The most important player in Liverpool who they hurt, the Bayern and Liverpool goalies who messed up… It looks like witchcraft,” added Xavi.

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He insisted that Barcelona needs to revisit their transfer policy. “The issue is that Barcelona have fallen asleep and it seems Barca are winning titles, but the others are winning the Champions League,” says Xavi.

Barcelona won the domestic double this season, losing only one game in La Liga. However, for the third consecutive time, Barcelona lost in the Champions League quarterfinal, this time against AS Roma.