Xavi has blasted the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to refuse Barcelona’s appeal against a Fifa transfer ban placed upon the club.
The Blaugrana were initially handed the ban as a result of signing underage players from outside of Spain and appealed to CAS, but had their argument rejected.
The decision renders the Blaugrana unable to make any signings in 2015, and the club captain feels it is an unfair punishment as all players are treated well..
“We have all been screwed by the CAS decision. I expected them to be more lenient,” Xavi told Sport.
“As a ‘cule’ I find it a huge injustice because no club in the world takes better care of their young players. This will make us even stronger.”
However, the midfielder believes the team still have more than enough talent to be a threat in every game, labelling Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi as ‘beasts’.
“It’s not just the trident because now Pedro is also scoring goals, or Munir also Sandro. The top three are three beasts,” Xavi said.
“The attack has potential for very good games. Neymar is performing brutally, you will see Luis Suarez increasingly improve and Messi has returned to give his best.
The Barca captain reflected that 2014 had been a difficult year for both him personally and his club, but was adamant that the club cannot go without a trophy again in 2015.
“It has not been an easy year. It was very difficult, both personally and in sport. The only good decision was to stay here one more year,” Xavi added.
“We cannot afford another year without a trophy. It is our main goal. The season has started well, we are working flat out.
“I feel that [we are on the right path]. There is enough room to recover the points that have been lost so far. Also, do not forget that Real Madrid has to come to Camp Nou. There are good vibes in the changing room, we are united.”
