'Xavi has a lot of work to do,' claims Julien Laurens after Barcelona fall to shock defeat in Antwerp

Barcelona manager Xavi has a "lot of work to do" despite guiding his side to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as winners of Group H, according to TNT Sports expert Julien Laurens.

Barca finished the group stages with a shock 3-2 defeat to Royal Antwerp as George Ilenikhena’s late goal ensured a first ever win in Europe’s elite competition for the Belgian club.

In fact, Antwerp arrived at the final fixture at risk of being dumped out of the competition without a single point to their name after losing their first five matches.

Barcelona had already assured they would be in the next round so manager Xavi rested a number of key first team players, making seven changes to the side that were defeated last weekend by Girona in La Liga.

Speaking to TNT Sports after watching their second successive defeat, European football journalist Laurens said: “There was a lot of rotation made by Xavi, which is true, it was a B team, very much so but still with the ball it was still quite average.

“Defensively terrible from [Jules] Kounde to [Oriol] Romeu to pretty much all that back four, Sergi Roberto, everyone.

“I think Xavi has a lot of work to do. We know they probably can’t strengthen the squad in January because they don’t have the money right now so it’s a lot of work to do for them to be competitive.

“Again, when we talk about the [Manchester] Citys and Bayerns and Real Madrids, I think they’re way below right now.”

Barcelona’s next game is away to Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, December 16.

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