I feel good after earning Xavi's trust: Barcelona full-back Sergino Dest

Barcelona are slowly getting back their rhythm under new boss Xavi and once again they seem like a potent team to play against after the 4-1 La Liga win against Valencia on Sunday. The Catalan club earned the victory courtesy of a hat-trick by January-signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong’s first half goal. Apart from being devastating on the attack, Xavi’s side was pretty good defensively and didn’t concede any easy goals. One of the best performers of the night was full-back Sergino Dest who put in a solid shift down the right side.

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? @sergino_dest: “It’s a great feeling, everybody is happy” pic.twitter.com/qfHwcijzOL

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 20, 2022

The American spoke about the match and the confidence his boss has in him after the game. According to barcablaugranes website, Dest said  “I feel good on a personal level, Xavi gave me the trust now to play again. If I don’t play, I always train harder to get into the team again, so I will never stop. So, if I don’t play, I train really hard to get my stamina back and everything and get stronger. And when I can play, I try to show that I want to be there.

“I feel great. Three points away is always a good feeling and, as a team, we fought really hard. I think the intensity was the key, we helped each other a lot. The teamwork was good.”

The full-back position is very important one in Xavi’s plans and Barcelona has produced some of the best attacking full-backs over the years. The likes of Dani Alves and Eric Abidal were pivotal to Barca’s success under Pep Guardiola. And, after that, Jordi Alba was crucial to Barca’s success under Luis Enrique, he is still a pivotal part of Barca’s plans.

Xavi also comes from the same school of thought as Guardiola and that’s why his first January signing was 38-year-old Alves. Although the Brazilian is not going to get a lot of game time, his experience and knowledge is going to be beneficial for the team. Dest can learn a lot from Alves, probably one of the best right-backs the world has ever seen.  

Xavi was delighted with Dest’s performance against Valencia and spoke glowingly about the youngster. The Spanish tactician said “Everyone is improved. Let’s take Sergino as an example. When we got here, he wasn’t doing so well, but now he is doing great. I thought he was spectacularly good [against Valencia], both with the ball and without it. I am really happy with his progress.”

Barcelona will next play Napoli in the Europa League play-offs second leg tie at Diego Maradona Stadium on Thursday. Dest has started the last four league games and is likely to start again. The first leg at Camp Nou ended 1-1 as Ferran Torres canceled out Pioter Zielinski’s goal.