Barcelona suffer another setback, Xavi admits veterans have failed

FC Barcelona have been unable to bounce back after their devastating UEFA Champions League exit last week. They returned to La Liga action on Sunday, and were held to a draw by Osasuna with a late equaliser. It came in heartbreaking fashion, with the Blaugrana conceding in the 86th minute to drop another two crucial points.

Manager Xavi Hernandez is livid, and he has admitted that the club's younger players are propping up the team at the moment. This is in stark contrast to the midfield legend's statement during his presentation as the new manager, where he said that he will be relying heavily on the club's veterans and his former teammates like Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique.

In last night's match, the younger players pulled their weight, with the club veterans mostly fading into the background. "Abde, Gavi and Nico were extraordinary, they are propping up the team in difficult moments," Xavi admitted in front of the press. "The youngsters are making a difference and that is difficult to digest," he added, as quoted by Marca.

The former Barcelona player is starting to realise that he may have approached his new post with the wrong strategy. Apart from saying that he will depend on his former teammates who are still active members of the squad, he even brought back Dani Alves, who had left the Camp Nou almost six years ago.

However, despite the humbling moment, Xavi is still refusing to fully put his confidence on the younger players. "It's positive and negative because they won't always be able to perform excellent because they are young."

To be fair, he also called on the other players to step up. "They [younger players] can't be the props, other players have to work. We all have to demand more from each other," he said.

Either way, everyone appears to be in agreement that the club as a whole should not be satisfied with the result on Sunday. "The point is insufficient, we're left with a bad taste," he said.

Moving forward, he spoke about finding ways to salvage the rest of the campaign. "The equaliser comes from a set piece. They live on that strategy. It is very difficult for us to defend in the area and this can't be. There are so many things to improve," he concluded.

Xavi's stint as Barcelona manager has not been off to a good start, and it remains to be seen if anything will change after the January transfer window. For now, the improvements are not coming as fast as fans would like.