FC Barcelona: A New Era

Xavi Hernández will be the new Barcelona coach.

After many comings and goings, Xavi is finally back in Barcelona.

One of the greatest legends of FC Barcelona.

A new promising year is about to start.

And nothing could make me feel better than making Barcelona supporters happy.

Will Xavi Hernández be able to solve

the football crisis of FC Barcelona?

With Xavi's arrival, everything changed.

I only ask you to be involved and make an effort.

We can't lose LaLiga this year.

The 2022/23 season begins.

We want to recover our style.

Gavi opens for Dembélé, Dembélé shoots. Goal!

Goal, goal! Barça score! Xavi's on fire!

Recover the enthusiasm.

Barça, let's go, Barça!

The transfer market is very good.

- Robert Lewandowski! -

They are important transfers that have helped us a lot.

Lewandowski! Goal!

Barça paid Enríquez Negreira,

the former vice-president of referees.

The truth is they condemned us before we went to court.

He's down! That's a penalty, but he's not giving it.

It proves that nobody bought a referee.

It's a scandal!

Five fateful minutes, 2-0, it ends in defeat.

You have to recover from the blows.

Every match is a damn war.

We must make a tremendous effort.

Getting up after a fall.

Go, a little bit more, come on!

Teammates who leave.

Thank you.

Sergio Busquets!

One, two, three, Barça!

-Winning against all the odds. -And against everybody.

Gavi crosses the ball, Pedri, goal!

We won against all the odds and against everybody!

Good timing, Araújo!

The new era starts now.

Come on, damn it! The first of many!

And to start a new era.

And start a new era.

A new era.

To start a new era.

Come on!

Well, I believe we're starting a new era.

JULY 2022 ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI'S ARRIVAL

- How's your Spanish? - Do you speak it?

Unfortunately, I don't understand.

Don't you understand? But you've understood me now.

-Yes, I speak a little Spanish. -Well, that's good.

My name is Robert.

I am from Poland.

Good.

I live in Barcelona.

That's good!

I remember exactly when I got

the offer from Barcelona.

ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI FORWARD

I knew that it was the perfect timing for me to move on.

- - A picture!

A picture, please.

For the club also it was a big, huge step to bring me in,

and I know that's what we all want.

From the first day, I felt supported because I could speak

with so many players with different languages.

Of course, I didn't speak Spanish at the time,

but I knew I had to learn because I know it's very important for me,

from the beginning, to understand the players and the people.

I know that the last time

for Barcelona wasn't easy and was very tough,

but I know that now the future can be much better.

I see that we have a huge potential,

and when I see the training sessions,

what we are doing now, everything's going well.

Four. Okay. Now, Robert and Ronald come here.

I am very glad to be part of Barcelona.

All the people say that.

Is it still "bon dia"? Or... What time is it?

-Bon dia? Yes. Still "bon dia." -Bon dia.

-After lunch, we say "bona tarda." -Also...

After lunch already. But lunch is at four o' clock.

No... If you eat lunch at four o' clock, okay, "bona tarda."

Robert Lewandowski!

And we can go in one way to build a new era for FC Barcelona

and get back on the right track.

BARCELONA AUGUST 13, 2022

Today, we officially start the season.

Okay? It's important, it's the key.

With this team, we must win LaLiga this year.

We can't lose LaLiga this year.

We can't.

I thought it was the moment...

XAVI HERNÁNDEZ COACH

...to create a little pressure

and tell the players that we couldn't lose with that team.

And above all, the responsibility...

ANDRÉS INIESTA FC BARCELONA PLAYER 2000-2018

...that comes with that shirt.

Everything that is behind the scenes, the people who follow you.

Every match is a war.

We must make a tremendous effort for the teammates who don't play,

for the crest we represent,

because being part of Barça is a privilege. Every minute counts.

You have to die on the field. Die.

I feel I always have to be

honest and fair with the players.

In that moment, I thought I had to push them,

but I also felt it was the right time to team up.

I felt that everybody needed to get a chance

to be part of the first team.

With this team, we must win titles.

And, above all, LaLiga.

Because in the Cup you can have a sending-off, a bad match, a bad day...

But LaLiga is a different story. LaLiga means 38 matchdays.

Bam, bam, bam.

LaLiga is the regular competition par excellence...

JOAN LAPORTA PRESIDENT

...that makes you understand if you're doing things right.

As an athlete, every title is important. Winning LaLiga gives hope for the future.

EIGHT-TIME WORLD MOTOGP CHAMPION

With a club such as Barça...

PAU GASOL TWO-TIME NBA CHAMPION

...every supporter expects the team to give us joy,

to win titles.

Are you willing to be a family? Yes?

The players on the bench, the ones who play,

those who're off the list.

If this is the case, we'll earn titles with ease.

Okay, guys?

Come on. Let's go.

LALIGA - MATCHDAY 1 OF 38 FC BARCELONA - RAYO VALLECANO

Time to get busy, the 22/23 season kicks off.

The first official match of the season.

The match has started!

The first match of the league is always important.

Dembélé over to Lewandowski...

Goal! Offside.

- Yes. -Ouch.

We were all very excited to start and fight.

SERGIO BUSQUETS MIDFIELDER

We proved that we could win the season.

The moment of truth begins.

I think it's the time to show

that we can compete, and even more so playing at home.

It was the first match of LaLiga.

GAVI MIDFIELDER

We knew that we had to grit our teeth.

Gavi sends it over to the Mosquito.

There goes the Mosquito, he keeps going...

Not a good shot.

Pedri...

The first game was a bit of a break.

The match got complicated.

-We missed four or five opportunities. -

- It's over. -Yes.

Barça 0, Rayo Vallecano 0.

Well, it wasn't possible.

A lack of goal-scoring power.

Barça felt stuck, didn't they?

The Barça team, who had high expectations,

had over 80,000 people come to see the team,

aware they were coming to a celebration, left frustrated.

A sad and frustrating draw for Barça. You can't live on hope.

We had a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of hope,

and the first match at home with a packed stadium

ended with a goalless draw against Rayo.

Especially when it's the first game of the season,

when there's a lot of expectations...

FRENKIE DE JONG MIDFIELDER

It's even a bigger blow.

Imagine the level of frustration, the disappointment,

and the nerves, the environment...

I remember a tense talk with the staff, with Mateu,

the president and Jordi Cruyff after the match.

I asked them to stay calm.

I asked them to be calm because it was a draw.

We didn't lose 0-5.

Fiasco. Disappointment.

A BITTER START I'M DISAPPOINTED

The joy in the Barcelona team has now frozen.

CRUSHED

Barça didn't live up to expectations.

TRAINING GROUND JOAN GAMPER

The selection of the players

and the substitutions during the match

weren't managed well by Xavi Hernández.

It was a tough week, I remember I was feeling bad.

They wrote bad things about me, they said that Barça was too much for me,

that I had no personality,

that being a good player

doesn't make you a good coach.

I tried my best to prevent that

from affecting the players,

who are the main protagonists.

I remember it was a very hard week because expectations were high.

The result wasn't perfect for us,

but we knew that we had to look forward,