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Barcelona have to compete on the European stage next season, says manager Xavi

Rafael Gomez
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez
Barcelona coach Xavi HernandezAFP
Barcelona are planning for next season. After winning La Liga, after almost four years of waiting, manager Xavi Hernandez is aiming for new challenges.

The Champions League is undoubtedly the main objective - in two seasons, the Spanish manager has not progressed beyond the group stage.

Now, without Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, Xavi has started to rebuild a squad who undoubtedly need a top signing to replace their long-standing pivot.

The top signing, in addition to replacing Busquets, will have another task: to provide the serenity to play in Europe. International competitions, from Xavi's perspective, are Barca's unfinished business.

In two seasons, they have failed to reach the semi-finals of either the Champions League or Europa League.

In the Champions League, in fact, they have been eliminated in the group stage; in the Europa League, the best result has been a quarter-final finish, where Barca lost to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Xavi, Laporta and Busquets at Camp Nou
Xavi, Laporta and Busquets at Camp NouAFP

"Next year we have to compete in Europe, it's our unfinished business," said Xavi on TV3's Gol a Gol.

"It's a tough feeling not to be able to compete with the big teams."

Xavi also revealed the defeat at the Bernabeu in October marked a turning point in the season.

In that match, Real Madrid ran roughshod over the Catalan side and Ter Stegen prevented a rout that would have been catastrophic.

"After the defeat at the Bernabeu, I met with the squad," he said. "I asked the rest of the staff to leave me alone with the players, because in that game was the only one where I saw that there was a little bit of soul missing.

"There was a lack of passion and those values I had asked for from the first day: attitude, respect and effort.

"I noticed there was something wrong with the team and I met with them, for a long time. We said things to each other's faces and there was a 'before and after' (following) that talk, it made us more united than ever."

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