Thierry Henry: “The volcano would have erupted if it wasn’t Xavi in charge”

Yesterday’s defeat at Camp Nou against Bayern Munich was another setback for Barcelona, who for the second year in a row will play in the Europa League.

Thierry Henry knows both sides of the coin well. As a player, he was one of the best, but in the dugout, his path has been quite different, only spending 20 games in charge of Monaco in the 2018-19 season.

After yesterday’s defeat, the Frenchman referred to the nature of today’s coaches and defended Xavi’s role at the helm of Barça: “Look at the end of the day result matters, we’ve seen it with Steven Gerrard. The problem at Barcelona is that you don’t have time. But yeah, let me tell you if it was another coach right now at Barcelona, dealing with what’s happening, it would have been a volcano even more than what it is... the volcano would have erupted. But because it’s Xavi, it’s kind of okay.”

Not Xavi’s fault

The former Arsenal striker went on to highlight the club’s performances in domestic competition: “They are second in the league. We all know Lewandowski should have scored at Bayern but it’s not his [Xavi] fault that Lewandowski missed three chances and it’s not his fault if they didn’t call the penalty on Dumfries, but you’re the coach at Barcelona and you’re going to be judged. Barça have gambled on the Champions League and they need that money because of what they did in the summer.”