Marc Muniesa: “Xavi knows that one day he will coach Barça”

Going to Qatar with only 27 years was not in his plans, but Marc muniesa (Lloret de Mar, 1992), could not say no to Al Arabi's offer. “I called Félix Sánchez, Víctor Vázquez and Xavi. They all spoke wonders to me and told me that it was not going to be easy at all. That the level of foreigners had increased so that the Qataris could reach the World Cup in good shape,” recalls the youth squad of the FC Barcelona hours before playing their second final of the season. Next Friday he will look to snatch Xavi his fourth title as Al Sadd's coach. “It is the best team in the country, but anything can happen in a game”, agrees Muniesa who does not rule out continuing to discover the Asian continent: “I have realized that all this is not bad at all.”

How do you see the team heading into Friday's game?

We did not arrive in good dynamics at the league level because we are penultimate, tied on points with the last. We have had many injured players. Up to five foreigners are allowed and in the last matches we have only been able to play two. But the feelings of the last two games are good and we have played against teams that are the best in the standings. Anything can happen to a game against Al Sadd, although this year they are destroying the league. All teams are being charged for a win. Hopefully we surprise.

Xavi's Al Sadd is doing very well this season.

Is incredible. Al Ahli from El Zhar and Hernán Pérez, who is second, got seven; Al Gharafa, who is doing very well, four; Al Duhail, who is the current league champion, has been beaten in the league and in the cup. They are a step above the rest, but you never know when you match. There will be about 20,000 people in the stands and we inaugurate one of the World Cup stadiums. Al Arabi is a historic club that had not reached an Emir Cup final for 26 years. The fans are going to support us a lot.

Su Al Arabi became an important club in Qatar, but it has not won a major title for many years.

The last league was in 1997 and the last Emir Cup final in 1994, although they have not won it since 1993. They have not won an Emir Cup for 27 years. This Cup is even more important than the league. Because the Emir is going to the game and that is very special for all Qataris. In addition, the final falls on the national day of Qatar. Today I went to look for the tickets with my wife and people encourage you, but they put pressure on you. They tell you: 'You have to win, eh! There are no excuses. We haven't won anything for a long time. ' They are aware that it is a unique opportunity, but the reality is that we play against the best team in the country and at their best. It will be a good game, that's for sure.

Al Sadd already beat them 4-0 in the Ooredoo Cup final.

Although not for that many goals, losing in the final of the Ooredoo Cup was something we could expect. But this Cup is more important. Al Arabi is a sleeping giant and has one of the best hobbies in the country. The fans demand to win and they know that we are facing a historic opportunity to do so. It will be difficult, yes, because Al Sadd has the best Qataris in the country. They are great players. They really surprised me a lot. They have a large part of the national team in the team and, in addition, very good foreigners like Cazorla and Guilherme. It also helps that it is Xavi's second year as coach. The players know him more and everything goes a little more rolled. They are performing at a great level.

Stopping Cazorla will be difficult. It is at a spectacular level.

But spectacular. It's amazing how Cazorla is playing. It is to continue competing in Spain. And it is not easy to play in Qatar. People think it is easy, but it is not. They have also played well in the Champions League, where they lost to Persepolis. Asian football is a world that we do not know in Spain. The league is competitive because all the teams have only five foreigners, and playing in the Champions League is very nice. Cazorla has adapted perfectly and is at an exceptional level. He scores many goals, he gives assists, but above all he is giving Al Sadd the game that he lacked in Xavi's first year.

How are they preparing the game?

Above all we are preparing well mentally. There are many players who have a lot of respect for the Qatari footballers of Al Sadd because they are eminences in the country. They have won the Asian Cup with the national team and that for Qatar was something very special. We have to lose that respect on the field, play them face to face and stay focused throughout the game. Because as soon as you get lost, they plug it in. They are higher quality and better. It's like a Barça-Girona or a Real Madrid-Girona. Anything can happen in a game. We want to compete well against the best team in the country, to be very focused throughout the game and win.

How do you imagine the final?

I've been dreaming about the final for a couple of days. We know they are going to have almost 70% possession of the ball. We are going to be locked in behind, waiting for a counter or some strategy play, which we are very strong there. The main thing is that we don't get a goal soon. That is going to be our main asset. Be focused, don't score a goal soon and try to hook one against. We have good players. We have high-level Qataris and a couple of very good Iranians. We have things to hurt them. If they don't mark us soon they will get nervous and we will gain the confidence that we have always lacked in front of them. They always mark us fast and we are already going against the current.

Xavi is faithful to 4-3-3, but uses a lot of tactical variations. Do you know where it will turn out?

They usually play 4-3-3, but the other day they changed the system two or three times in the same game. He played with three centrals, then with four behind … He can also play with a 4-1-4-1. The only thing you can rule out is that it uses two pivots. He normally plays alone with Guilherme, with Cazorla and Nam Tae-Hee leading the way. He has a pure winger on the right, Al Haydos, who is the captain of the national team, and on the other side is Akram Afif, who is Neymar from Qatar. He is a very good player. He accumulates a lot of people in the middle, which is what he did at Barça and in the national team. That makes the centrals have to jump. Failure to do so creates the space they need to turn and control the ball. He's doing the football he did as a player and this season he's making a lot of progress.

Do you have a lot of contact with Xavi?

Sure, if we are neighbors. We live in the same complex. I have already told him to let us win the Emir's Cup because they are going to win the league for sure. That they leave something to us to the rest, go.

Do you see him becoming a great coach and directing FC Barcelona?

Without a doubt. Just because of the football concepts he has and everything that coaches like Pep Guardiola or Luis Enrique have learned. I am lucky to live with him and all the 'staff' and his own colleagues say that he has taken a big step compared to last year. He knows that one day he will coach Barça. Let's see how the season ends and what happens in the elections, but I see it prepared. Plus, he's a club man. Everyone will respect you. He feels Barça. He wants Barça. Another thing is whether it works or not. That will depend on how he enters the team and how the results go. But he will train Barça sooner or later. That's for sure.

His coach at Al Arabi is Heimir Hallgrímsson. How are you doing with him?

He has a more defensive concept than what I have worked with in Spain, but that paid off. With the Icelandic team he reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship and qualified for a World Cup, something historic for a country of 300,000 inhabitants. As a coach and a person I am very good with him. He has a couple of Icelanders on the team and some Spaniards, which is great for me. There is also Ruud Hesp, who was at Barça. Let's see if we are lucky and we can win for him, for the team and for the fans … A final is beautiful and both the coach and the fans deserve that we win it.

Al Arabi '); return false; “class =” item-multimedia “>

What teams do you follow from Qatar?

I always see the Qatari league. I also follow Girona a lot, but Barça games are usually late. It's two more hours here and at 12 I've been sleeping for a while. The children get up at 6:30 to go to school, so usually at 10 we are resting. I see the Premier games, which are earlier, or the Spanish ones that are played at two or four.

How did the Al Arabi offer come about?

I was calm in Girona, I had not planned to go out. After four years at Stoke I was very comfortable at home. I was happy. It was a stick to go down to Second, but good. We played with Al Arabi in preseason and the second manager was Jordi Condom, with whom I met for two years in the taxi from Lloret de Mar to Barcelona. He told me they were looking for a left-handed center back. They were going for Vermaelen, but in the end he went with Iniesta to Vissel Kobe. They called me and I told them that if we were winning, everyone would see it as an option. And ended up dating. I first called Félix Sánchez, with whom I met at Barça for three years, and then Víctor Vázquez and Xavi. They all spoke highly of me. They told me it was not going to be easy. That the league had raised the level because it had raised the level of foreigners so that the Qataris could reach the World Cup in good shape. On a personal level, last year was very good. Now we are doing poorly in the league but we have played a final and we are on the verge of another. I'm very happy.

A few weeks ago it rang to reinforce the defense of FC Barcelona. Was there real interest?

It was all very fast. I read it in the newspaper and I said to Mauri – his representative -: 'What is this? What's going on?'. He spoke with Barça. They told him it was there, but they had no plans to do any reinforcement yet. She got pretty fat. It was a trending topic, it appeared in the Qatari press, my teammates, the managers asked me … I just signed in June and I didn't know what was going to happen. I told Mauri: 'I am willing to do anything to return to Barça.' I think it is impossible, but between the lack of centrals, the lack of money and the Covid … I thought that the flute could just sound. Right now Araujo and Mingueza are playing and I am very happy that they are betting on people from the house. They know the house, the philosophy and play with the heart. It's nice that they give opportunities. When I was there I thought: 'I hope I get the opportunity.' That they bet on two 21-year-olds is very nice.

What advice would you give them?

Let them be advised by Koeman, who was central and can surely give them a hand. And that they enjoy and learn from the grown-ups. I see them well, quite loose. They seem to have been playing there for years. That they are from the house gives them serenity when playing with the first team. When Fontàs, Sergi Gómez, Bartra or I went up, we would meet Piqué, Puyol, Mascherano or Gabi Milito. They were centrals of a spectacular level. They supported you, they helped you, but it was difficult to compete with them. It was another time.

Contract ends next June. Where do you see yourself in the future?

So is. I finish my contract and in two or three weeks the winter market begins. My priority is to continue at Al Arabi, but I also depend on what the club wants to do. Unless something interesting comes out that suits me better, I'll still be here. But that is a matter for Mauri, the club and what may emerge. What happens in the final of the Emir's Cup will be fundamental. If the coach follows or not … I hope we win, we are all happy and they want to renew us. If not, football does not end here. There are many more teams. We will look for another game where my family and I are happy. But I'm telling you, my priority is to continue in Al Arabi.

Has the Asian bug bit you? China, Japan, South Korea …

Well, I have thought about it. Now I have been watching the Asian Champions League, which has been played in Qatar, and I have realized that Asia is not bad at all. It is not bad to compete here because it is not easy at all. Why not try another country? Japan, China, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia … They are countries with very large and very competitive teams. Last year something came out to return to Spain, but the coronavirus emerged and everything slowed down a bit. I'm fine in Qatar and I'd like to stay here until the World Cup. I would like to experience a World Cup in first person.

You can also talk to Félix Sánchez, become a national and play the World Cup with Qatar.

We have already talked about it, but Félix told me that, to nationalize, I need to be in the country for five years and by 2022 I will only take four. In addition, Qatar has very good centrals. They have a very good team. Hopefully they will play a great role in their World Cup.

You have trained with Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Lopetegui, Machín … Would you like to be a coach to put everything you learned into practice?

I would like. At Barça I was lucky to train with Pep, Luis Enrique, Tito, Eusebio, García Pimienta … I learned a lot there. Each of the training sessions in the four years that I was between the first team and the subsidiary was a master's degree. Then I went to England and I realized that football was totally different. That everything could be improved. And he was only 21 years old. That's when I realized that in the future I could be a coach. When I was at Girona I took course B. I am missing A and UEFA Pro. I have talked about it with Barça teammates. In the future we could form a technical 'staff'. Now I see Xavi working with three or four colleagues he had when he was a youth and I imagine doing the same. I see that they suffer, because it is a much more sacrificial job than that of a player, but you can continue to be linked to what you like football.

With whom would you form your 'staff'?

Sergi Roberto, Sergi Gómez, Marc Bartra, Carles Planas, Ivan Balliu, Oier, Fontàs … We are many. We got together since we were young. We go on vacation together and sometimes we talk about it. Falra that, in the future, the bug continues to bite us and we feel like it. Because there are also those who are focusing more on physical preparation, on nutrition … Each one is already focusing on the branch they like the most.