A night to enjoy for Xavi and the Barcelona faithful

What a nice sight to see Xavi with a smile on his face again.

And to see culers singing and dancing with joy, celebrating a vintage Blaugrana performance on the biggest stage in football.

It wasn’t so much that Barcelona beat Napoli, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. By Barca standards, this is the bare minimum expectation every season.

But the way that they did.

This wasn’t a classic tiki taka display, in fact Barcelona had less than 50% of the possession. But there was a confidence and creativity on the ball that hasn’t seen all season long.

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Xavi deserves this moment.

He’s sacrificed a lot in his time as Barcelona manager, and in a season where silverware is a remote possibility, this victory feels like an important accomplishment in its own right.

In his brief time as manager, Xavi will be able to say he inherited a club in crisis, won La Liga, and got them back in the Champions League quarter finals.

It hasn’t been pretty, and Xavi has been far from perfect, but we should all recognize his time in charge as a true success story.

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Focusing back in on the game itself, Xavi enjoyed a perfect day as manager.

I for one did not understand his decision to start Marc Guiu on the weekend. If the logic was to rest Robert Lewandowski for the big game, you can’t argue with him now.

In reality, however, I don’t think this was really part of his big plan for the matchup against Napoli.

Instead, I think he went back to the basics, kept things simple, and was rewarded.

Seeing the starting lineup, things just felt right from the beginning.

The back four picked themselves. Andreas Christensen and Ilkay Gundogan too.

The decision to give the nod to Fermin Lopez in the midfield was the biggest call of all. And Fermin looked determined to repay his manager by contributing what he does best by giving the team intensity from the first whistle, and the courage to be involved and dangerous in the final third.

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I don’t know what kind of future Fermin has with Barcelona, but I see Sergi Roberto as an instructive example.

Roberto, once again, had an amazing moment in a big consequential game. Roberto always had a place at Barcelona, but the problem was that he was given a bigger role than he could ever handle. He could have been a great role player, and avoided so much criticism over the years, if he had always been used as a supersub and a part of the rotation.

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Fermin was the man for the job in his starting role in this game. His goal was earned because he was fearless, and didn’t let a few bad games ruin his confidence. Like Roberto, he could be an important utility player for Barca in the years to come, if he’s willing to accept such a role.

Finally, this was the best wing play Barca had all season. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal were brilliant.

Bravo Xavi. Spot on with the player selection.

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And in spite of a collective gasp when Roberto and Oriol Romeu came in as subs in the 59th minute, the in-game management played out in his favor too.

But even more than that, his team showed up with the fighting spirit, ready to get the job done.

Even after giving up a bad goal that cut into the lead, they held strong, and didn’t panic. Napoli had a best 15 minutes where they were the better team. The win was never really in doubt.

I hope Xavi went home, had an excellent Spanish meal with a glass of wine, and really relaxed and enjoyed the victory.

No manager is above criticism when you take on such a high pressure job, but when the history is written, we’ll look back fondly on Xavi as manager.

He is a man of the club.

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Even when he’s gotten it wrong, his love and commitment to the colors has never been in doubt.

Congrats Xavi, and Barca fans.

This is a victory too long in the making.

On to the quarterfinals where anything can happen.