Xavi Hernàndez was a happy man in his press conference today at the Ciutat Esportiva. Well, he has good reason to be after participating in the amazing 5-0 win over Real Madrid.
FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi admitted he’d had trouble sleeping. It’s not every day you put five past Real Madrid and it was hard to come down from the clouds. Being a man with Barça in his DNA, he was as happy as happy could be, and said “I’m delighted to have made the Barça family happy”.
Superiority
As Guardiola said last night, Xavi was happy with the way they won it. “We were the better side on the pitch from the first to last minute” he said. “It was a historic result, but especially because of such superiority”. Better than the 6-2
The 6-2 win at the Bernabéu last year is fresh on everybody’s memories, but Xavi actually thought that “although the result was more or less the same, we played even better last night … It was one of the best games of my life. We have done better in other games, but probably never in one quite so important”.
Talking on the pitch
“In the build-up to the match we just wanted to ignore all the noise being made, we just wanted to do our talking on the pitch. Barça were vastly superior. In every way, every facet, we were better”, said Xavi. But he didn’t think they had a point to prove. “We’re just a team that loves to compete and to keep accepting challenges”. Big blow
Xavi agreed that it was “a big blow for Madrid, now we have to see if they can recover.” In turn, for his own team, he reckoned “it had the opposite effect. It was a huge boost for morale”.
In 1990/91, the Dream Team under Johan Cruyff got off to a cracking start with six wins in a row against Espanyol (0-1), Valencia (3-1), Betis (2-3), Valladolid (1-0), Tenerife (0-1) and Athletic Bilbao (4-1). They then slipped up against Atlético Madrid (2-1), but after beating Mallorca at the Camp Nou (2-1) they had ten wins, two draws and one defeat, scoring 26 goals and conceding nine. With 22 points (32 by today’s system), Barça were four ahead of the surprising Logroñés. They ended up winning the title with 57 points, ten more than Atlético Madrid. Zubizarreta, Koeman, Bakero, Begiristain, Goikoetxea, Laudrup and Stoichkov were the stars of that team. 
Despite a dodgy start (1-0 defeat to Numancia and 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou against Racing), the 2008/09 season then saw Barça and Guardiola go on an amazing 9-win streak, such that by game 13 (a 3-0 win at Sevilla) they were flying away with 10 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. The 32 points put the club six ahead of Real Madrid. Finally, 87 points for Barça and 78 for the whites. It was the beginning of a golden era. Eto’o and Henry were the strikers supplied by such geniuses as Leo Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Piqué and Alves. 
"I think we were maybe a bit short of concentration at key moments. Against Mallorca there were moments when the second goal would have finished the game off. I think we were actually playing for time a bit and then we found ourselves at 1-1. The problem was that we didn’t take our chances." 
"Yes, I do, because I think he’s doing well. Much more mature than before. He’s taking on an important role within the group. He’s always very professional and looks after himself and works hard –the goals will come. He was unlucky the other day, but so were the rest of the team, not just the strikers. It seems like all the responsibility is on Bojan’s shoulders and we all have to help him. He’s scored goals all his life and I’m sure he’ll continue to do so." 
"Yes, and it’s important to look for tactical variations. Pep’s crazy! He’s always watching videos of games and he has a great staff to help him. It’s fundamental to know how we should play, if we should get down the flanks, look for superiority in the middle..... that’s what we do a lot of work on in training. Pep is crazy about tactics, he knows so much and his enthusiasm is infectious." 
► Alves and Bojan are the only two players who have featured in all 10 games the teams have played so far this season. 
Neither Valdés nor Pedro have ever made an official appearance for the national team, and will get their first chance against the Swiss in the first match in the group. Spain then switch to Johannesburg, where Honduras await on June 21, and they close the group against another Latin American nation, Chile, in Pretoria on June 25. 
On Touré's situation at Camp Nou, Laporta commented: "He is a great player who has shone at Barça and, therefore, we would like him to stay here for many years to come, but his agent has talked to us about the possibility of him leaving because he is slightly unhappy about certain sporting aspects," he explained. "The player is unsettled because he wants to play more and for that reason we will listen to any offers that other clubs may make." Laporta then revealed that while offers for Touré had been made, it was down to Txiki Begiristain to deal with them. 
While talks have taken place with Arsenal the Barça president believes that "it is very important that Cesc declares openly his desire to come to Barça". Talks have also been held between manager Arsène Wenger and the midfielder and Laporta thinks that "it is always good that a trainer reaches an agreement with a player". 
Income increased across all areas of the club’s business, with more money coming from UEFA and new deals with Catalan TV Station TV3 Etisalat and Turkish Airlines, which combined with income from the Tour of USA and the friendly game held in Kuwait to boost income by nearly a fifth. 
The 222,8 million Euros of income compares with 186 million in the final six months of 2008 and Joan Oliver stressed the importance of the club’s sporting success to the improved figures: “we are in a context where the majority of companies in the world have seen their income stagnate or go down, where the majority of football clubs have also seen their income stagnate or go down. Meanwhile, we are presenting figures that show we have increased income by 20%. That increase would not have been possible without the great sporting success we enjoyed last season”. 
Spending also increased from 166 to 211 million Euros- a 27.1% rise- primarily due to new signings, improved contracts and bonuses as a result of successes in the two Super Cups and the World Club Cup. Sr Boix explained: “the success on the field has a short term economic cost, but over the next few years we will see the advantages of the sporting achievements we enjoyed last season”. 
The Vice President insisted: “general costs have dropped and it is the sporting costs that have increased, but we are clear that this is where we have to invest. The players have accepted five important variables – games played, classification for the Champions League and winning the League, Cup and Champions. That means of course that if we win everything then the bonuses the players get is important”.
Although he hasn’t had too many chances this season, Bojan reflected: “sure, I’ve not been playing a lot, but I just have to keep working like I have been and try to force my way into the team. The important thing is that whoever plays, we are all pulling together to try and win the league and the Champions”.
Since the list was first compiled, FC Barcelona have won 27 trophies. Nine Spanish Leagues, three Spanish Cups, seven Spanish Super Cups, three Champions Leagues, three European Super Cups, one Cup Winners Cup and one Clubs World Cup. That’s an average of one and a half titles a season!