Barcelona coach Xavi is urging his players to take full advantage of a "golden opportunity" to seal Champions League qualification against a direct rival in Real Betis.
The Blaugrana go to Seville on Saturday sitting second in LaLiga, eight points clear of fifth-placed Betis – who won 1-0 at Camp Nou in December – as the battle for the top four nears its conclusion.
A win for Barca over the Copa del Rey winners would take them to 69 points and ensure they do not finish any lower than fourth, with Betis only able to reach 67 and sixth-placed Real Sociedad 68.
While the 15-point gap to champions Real Madrid highlights how confronting 2021-22 has been for Barca, Xavi has restored a degree of positivity since replacing Ronald Koeman in November.
Barca were ninth in LaLiga after 13 matches ahead of Xavi's first game in charge, 10 points behind second-placed Sevilla; they now appear favourites to finish ahead of Julen Lopetegui's side and dethroned champions Atletico Madrid as runners-up.
And Xavi wants his team to clinch Champions League qualification at the first time of asking.
"Hopefully, it's a golden opportunity to qualify for the Champions League," he said on Friday. "They're a direct rival, with great players and a great coach. It will be difficult.
"Football gives us the chance to take sporting revenge. We want to fulfil our goals before the end of the season.
"We are fighting for the minimum, but that's the way it is. There are two goals, but the most important is to be in the Champions League next season.
"That's the objective. If we can get second, which would give us the option of entering the Supercopa, then even better.
"We cannot think beyond this, [but] I hope that this summer there will be signings despite the economic situation. We cannot take the European qualification for granted.
"I expect an opponent [Betis] with a lot of confidence. They have won the Copa, they deserved it. I congratulate Betis, [Manuel] Pellegrini and the players, who are having an excellent, historic season. I congratulate them."
Ever since Xavi's return to the club, their "philosophy" and "DNA" have drawn a lot of focus, with many supporters feeling Barca's ethos was diluted under Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and Koeman.
Ronald Araujo commented that restoring "the Barca DNA" with Xavi was a chief goal of his after signing a new contract in April, and while the coach acknowledges he cannot change things in an instant, he is confident they are making progress with a top-four finish almost secure.
"It's not my message, it's the message of Barca's history," Xavi continued. "I don't have a magic wand, what I'm clear about is that with this model [Barca] won five Champions Leagues and world recognition.
"You leave Spain and they remember [Pep] Guardiola's Barca, [Lionel] Messi's Barca, and they remember how we won, not so much what we won.
"We have to wait and be patient. If we review history, there is no doubt."
On This Day in 2011: Lionel Messi stars as Barcelona win Champions League
Lionel Messi produced a Wembley masterclass as Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League final on this day in 2011 to become European champions for a fourth time.
Pep Guardiola won his second Champions League as Barca head coach in three years after a dominant performance from his side.
They reached the final after defeating El Clasico rivals Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate in the last four, with United sweeping aside Schalke 6-1 in their semi-final.
Guardiola’s side outplayed United in the first half, enjoying 68 per cent possession and having 22 shots, but were still level at half-time as Pedro’s opener was cancelled out by Wayne Rooney, who side-footed home from 15 yards after a one-two with Ryan Giggs.
Barca’s dominance continued after the break with Messi, who moments earlier had seen a shot cleared off the line by Patrice Evra, firing in a low shot from 25 yards.
Messi’s dribbling then caused panic in the United defence and David Villa capitalised to whip a shot into the top corner from just outside the penalty area and secure Barcelona’s third Champions League title in six years.
Eric Abidal, who had undergone surgery only two months earlier to remove a tumour in his liver, was given the honour of wearing the captain’s armband during the presentation ceremony and he was the first player to lift the trophy.
After the match Guardiola hailed Messi as “the best player I have ever seen”, while United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: “In my time as manager it is the best team we have faced.”
Gareth Southgate knows Euro 2024 must go ‘very, very well’ to keep England job
Gareth Southgate knows next year’s Euros will have to go extremely well for it to be a “possibility in anybody’s eyes” for him to stay on as England manager.
The 52-year-old was parachuted into the hotseat following Sam Allardyce’s ignominious exit in 2016 and has gone on to oversee the national team’s best spell since winning the World Cup.
England reached the 2018 semi-finals before losing the delayed Euro 2020 final in an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley.
There were more signs of progress as the team were edged out by France at last year’s World Cup, but a challenging year meant Southgate had to weigh up whether to see out his contract until 2024.
The England boss decided to stay on after a week of contemplation following Qatar, but next summer’s European Championship could prove his last finals in charge.
“My contract is until the December,” Southgate said. “That was always put in place because it would allow everybody reflection time, really.”
Asked if the Euros would be his last tournament, Southgate said: “Who knows?
“I think we’ll have to go very, very well for that to be a possibility in anybody’s eyes and that’s fair enough. I’m more than comfortable with that.
“My aim is to try and win the tournament and everything I do is geared around that and every conversation I have with the players now is geared around that.
“So, what will happen in the future at the moment it isn’t at the forefront of my mind, but trying to win this European Championship is.”
England are third favourites with the bookmakers to triumph in Germany next year, and that is all the manager is focused on right now.
‘Succession’ is a buzzword thanks to the popular US TV series, but Southgate has not seen the show and was unwilling to talk about potential candidates for a job he cares deeply about.
“Whatever (input) John (McDermott, Football Association technical director) and everybody else at the FA would like, really,” he said.
“I’m not precious about it. If I could help in any way, at whatever point. I try to do that now with involvement in the pro licence, with reaching out to English coaches.
“We’ve had people in to have the odd day here and there with us at training.
“That’s not my decision but I’d always help English football as much as I can.
“At whatever point I leave here, hopefully we’ve won something, but if I’m the second most successful I’ll be more than happy to become third very quickly.
“I joined here to help English football and that will never change for me.”
England’s immediate focus is taking a giant stride towards Germany by beating Malta and North Macedonia in June, but for a number of players their future is up in the air.
Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are subject of widespread speculation, while a lack of game-time is an issue for Southgate’s favourites Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips.
“There’s potentially a lot of movement with that squad we’ve picked across the summer, but I think it will be later in the summer,” the England boss said.
“It doesn’t worry me how it plays out. I think as a player you always back yourself. You’ve got to.
“You’ve got to have the mentality that ‘wherever I go I’m going to force my way into the team’ until such point as which it becomes apparent where ‘maybe I’ve got to go’.
“And maybe we’ve got a couple in the squad who’ve got that decision to go through in their own minds this summer.”
That self-confidence has paid dividends for Jack Grealish, who struggled to make the desired impact in his first season at Manchester City.
But the 27-year-old has come on leaps and bounds this term under Pep Guardiola, who Southgate considers the best coach in the world.
“I’m a huge admirer,” the England boss said. “He knows that, I’ve told him.
“Of course it’s been brilliant for our players to work with him and they have learned individually, tactically and, probably as much as anything, that mentality.
“You mention Jack, he’s played properly, I would say, in this period. You know, against Real Madrid with and without the ball.
“That wasn’t the case two-and-a-half years ago, if I’m honest, so there’s been a lot of progress.”
Graham Alexander keen to bring success to MK Dons after landing head coach role
MK Dons have appointed Graham Alexander as their new head coach.
The 51-year-old former Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford and Motherwell manager replaces Mark Jackson, who was sacked earlier this month after the club were relegated to Sky Bet League Two.
Alexander, who will be assisted by ex-Bury boss Chris Lucketti, told the Dons’ official website: “I’m grateful to the club for showing faith in me and providing me with this fantastic opportunity.
“This is, of course, a club with great potential, though we know we need to win on the pitch to justify everything we’ve got off it – that’s what me and Chris are here to do.
“That will require a lot of hard work but we are both committed and driven to try and bring success to MK Dons.”
Former Preston, Burnley and Scotland defender Alexander left Motherwell by mutual consent last summer after their Europa Conference League exit.
He has twice won promotion as a manager with previous clubs Fleetwood and Salford.
Dons chairman Pete Winkelman added: “This is a start of a new chapter for us.
“Graham ticked all the boxes for us following a lengthy and thorough process, and he brings with him the football experience and success, both as a player and as a manager, that we demanded of our next head coach.”
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