Former Barcelona star Thierry Henry has this evening moved to defend one-time teammate and current Blaugrana head coach Xavi.
This comes amid an evening which has seen the Spanish tactician singled out for criticism once more.
Barcelona, of course, marked their return to action a short time ago.
Fresh off a morale-boosting last-gasp victory in La Liga over the weekend, the Catalans turned their attentions back towards matters on the continent, making the trip to Italy for the first leg of the club’s Champions League Last-16 tie with Napoli.
Barca, all told, controlled the clash, dominating possession, whilst restricting their hosts to just a solitary shot on target.
And yet, post-match, large sections of the club’s supporters have taken aim at Xavi, largely for his failure to maintain control of proceedings, en route to Victor Osimhen levelling things up 15 minutes from time.
As alluded to above, though, one of the Spaniard’s former teammates at the Camp Nou, late tonight, has launched a stern defence of Xavi.
Speaking as part of his punditry role with CBS Sports, Thierry Henry, in an online interview with Barca’s boss, assured that he boasts a tactical mind only matched by another Blaugrana icon, in Pep Guardiola:
“Hey Xavi, my friend. I don’t care what people say. I’m impressed with your work at Barça. You won the league and you taught me a lot in football. Your brain, for me, is second to none. In terms of how you seen the game, only Pep compares to you.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
