Finishing below 2nd can't be acceptable and we are even about to be overtaken by Bilbao.
I really like the football we've seen but there also needs to be a result in either LaLiga or the CL. (He needs to get to the semi finals of the CL at least). It could be that we get knocked out of the CL early and then finish 3rd or something which would be a big fail.
There is something to be said about management of the competitions as well and understanding of the format. We seem to have put a lot of effort into a group stage which may not give us much benefit. Whilst we will see, a lot of good teams ended up in the playoff section and we could just end up playing them anyway.
Hopefully the break has let the players mentally reset and forget the harsh games.
CL depends on who we face.
You can't say (and many others) a priori 'if not semis, it's a failure'
You can get to the semis by facing Lille and Milan in R16 and QF
you can also get City or PSG for R16 (very likely right now given the standings)
That's why I never entertained the idea that Xavi did something important in CL last season.
Easiest group in idk how many years, and then a bad 23-24 Napoli.
Nothing important there
