MADRID
\nBarcelona secured qualification for next season\u2019s Champions League on Saturday as Jordi Alba\u2019s 94th-minute winner against Real Betis guaranteed the Catalans\u2019 place in the top four of La Liga.
\nAlba\u2019s stinging injury-time volley snatched a 2-1 victory for Barca at the Benito Villamarin to ensure they will play in the Champions League next term, an achievement likely to be crucial to the club\u2019s hopes of financial recovery.
\nWhen Xavi Hernandez took over as coach in November, Barcelona lay ninth in La Liga, with genuine concerns about their chances of closing the gap. But, Xavi\u2019s team surged up the table and can now look forward to rejoining their rivals Real Madrid in Europe\u2019s premier tournament next season.
\n\u201cWe have saved the situation,\u201d said Xavi. \u201cThis team believes until the end, it has a competitive edge that we didn\u2019t have in November.\u201d
\nThe difference between Champions League and Europa League football could be worth more than 50 million euros ($52.7 million) to Barcelona, who began the season with debts of more than a billion euros and were forced to let Lionel Messi leave for free last summer.
\nWhile a trophyless season can never count as a success for Barca, finishing in the top four is an impressive achievement for Xavi and a huge relief for the club.
\n\u201cWe are Barca, so this is the minimum requirement, but in November we were ninth,\u201d added Xavi. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a very good second half of the season and now we look forward to next year, to improve enough to win titles.\u201d
\nVictory leaves Barcelona second in the table, 11 points clear of Betis in fifth. Both teams have three games left to play. Barca should now be confident of clinching second place too, with a five-point edge over Sevilla.
\nBetis looked like they had sealed a point after Marc Bartra headed in an equaliser in the 78th minute, three minutes after Ansu Fati had come off the bench to give Barcelona the lead. Alba, though, fired in at the back post to claim all three points for the visitors.
\nFati\u2019s goal was his first in the league since November as the 19-year-old continues his latest recovery from another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
\nThe teenager briefly returned in January from a hamstring injury that has kept him out for the best part of six months. That had followed his nightmare 11 months out with a knee problem between November 2020 and September last year.
\n\u201cAnsu has this magic, an eye for goal, he is a difference-maker,\u201d said Xavi. \u201cWhere someone else needs three of four chances, he can score with half a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID Barcelona secured qualification for next season\u2019s Champions League on Saturday as Jordi Alba\u2019s 94th-minute winner against Real Betis guaranteed the Catalans\u2019 place in the top four of La Liga. Alba\u2019s stinging injury-time volley snatched a 2-1 victory for Barca at the Benito Villamarin to ensure they will play in the Champions League next term, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6960,6961,1626],"class_list":{"0":"post-259366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-barca","9":"tag-fight-for-titles","10":"tag-xavi-hernandez"},"yoast_head":"\n