This Thursday, at 17:00 (Brasília time), the Barcelona receives the Galatasaray for the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League. In an interview, coach Xavi Hernández praised compatriot Domènec Torrent, former coach of Flamengo and who currently manages the Turkish team.
“I think Domènec will be brave. He believes in football like ours, his game model is very similar to mine. And he is a brave coach, who works very well, has experience and knows what he is doing. Tomorrow I don’t know what he plans for the match. Obviously, I imagine a dominant Barça, creating opportunities”, said Xavi.
“They may play further back, but I would find it strange, I believe they will have high pressure at least in the first few minutes. It will be difficult, we will have to dominate and get out of this high pressure, put in the same intensity as in the last games. We are in a very good dynamic and we must not get out of that dynamic”, he added.
Torrent arrived at Flamengo in July 2020, after the departure of Jorge Jesus. The Catalan, however, was in office for a short time: after poor results, he was fired in November. In January of this year, in turn, he got it right with Galatasaray.
So far, Dome has recorded eight official games on Turkish soil, with two wins, two draws and four defeats (33.3% performance). In Fla, he added 23 matches, with 13 triumphs, four draws and 6 setbacks – 62.3% of the points played.
Xavi and Torrent are old acquaintances. That’s because the coach was Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach at the historic Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, which had precisely the former midfielder as one of the leaders on the field.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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