Spanish giant FC Barcelona are one of the most successful clubs in the world, and every year they face their long-standing rivals Real Madrid on several occasions in La Liga and in other tournaments.
However, fans across the world have already enjoyed a pre-season El Classico in Las Vegas between the above teams, which is kind of an early surprise for them ahead of the upcoming European season.
Why does the Barcelona manager love defeating Real Madrid?
Last season, FC Barcelona started their football campaign with Ronald Koeman, but his poor coaching performance showed him the exit door during the January transfer window and paved the way for Xavi Hernandez to become the new Catalan manager.
Since joining as the head coach, Xavi focused solely on rejuvenating the whole Barca squad with his own footballing tactics, and he also kept in mind that he had a balanced team despite the absence of Lionel Messi.
After defeating Real Madrid 1-0 in a preseason friendly on Sunday at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Catalan manager commented that his team was superior to their sworn enemy on the field.
In an after-match interview, Xavi said to the interviewer, “Glad. We have had good feelings. The least important thing is to win, but we Cules love beating Real Madrid. First part great, second part not so good. I see the team doing well physically. I have seen a good Barca, but we have to be more solvent.“
Although Barca No.9 Robert Lewandowski played in that match, the goalscorer was another star winger, Raphinha, who joined the Catalan side from Leeds United earlier this summer.
Xavi also highlighted that Lewandowski played a good inaugural game for Barca, but Raphinha’s instant impact decided the match result, which would be an interesting fact for the next Classicos.
