Alejandro Garnacho riled up the Spanish press after being accused of mocking FC Barcelona star Pedri as Manchester United beat the La Liga giants in the UEFA Europa League.
The forward played a key role in Antony’s second-half winner which resulted in wild scenes at Old Trafford as United booked their ticket to the last 16 of the European competition, with Garancho being seen copying Pedri’s celebration.
Yet after the fallout from the Spanish media, Barcelona manager Xavi has now weighed in on his take on the incident, with the Spanish footballing legend believing that players should have more empathy when considering their celebrations.
Xavi calls out Garnacho after Barcelona celebration
Photo by Alex Livesey – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
With Vinicius Junior’s so-called ‘provocative celebrations’ one of the biggest talking points in Spanish football, it’s only natural that the media have latched onto another target in Garnacho having seen Barcelona eliminated from Europe, with the Blaugrana seemingly not a fan of what he saw on Thursday.
Xavi said via Mundo Deportivo: “It is a difficult question to answer. When the player is happy, all the anger and different injustices towards you come out. Each one expresses it as it comes out. There is a bit of empathy missing. I think you have to celebrate with your teammates and not celebrate as a provocation for the other.”
Indeed, celebrations such as what Garnacho did on Thursday are part and parcel of football, a subsection of the dark arts that we as football fans enjoy and can view as nothing but banter. Yet for Xavi and Barcelona, it seems like the United winger has hit a certain soft spot for the Catalan giants.
As we all likely know, Garnacho is already focused on the next match for United, that coming today at Wembley Stadium in the League Cup final against Newcastle United, and the sooner noise from Barcelona is over the better for the talented Argentine wonderkid.
Source: unitedinfocus.com
