Speaking ahead of Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund, Gavi insisted that criticism of his performances this season has been unwarranted.
The 20-year-old midfielder returned to the first team squad in October after a lengthy spell on the sidelines as a result of a knee injury, but he has struggled to earn consistent minutes since.
“There are a lot of people who think that I don’t know how to play football,” Gavi admitted in Tuesday’s press conference, referring to a barrage of online criticism that has targeted his physical and technical ability on the pitch.
But the midfielder, born in the outskirts of Sevilla, was defiant, insisting that “they’ve got no f*cking idea!”
Gavi praised his relationship with head coach Hansi Flick, who he revealed has “helped with lots of footballing concepts, but also the more human side of things.”
“Since I was young, I’ve always been a starter and that’s something I’ve had to understand, that I can’t always start. Flick is spectacular and we’re really happy to have him as our coach,” he told reporters in Tuesday’s press conference.
Flick has the Blaugrana on course for another sensational season. In addition to their UEFA Champions League quarter-final, they’ve a four-point lead over Real Madrid in LaLiga, and a Copa del Rey final against los Blancos on the horizon at the end of the month.
“We’re having a spectacular season,” Gavi expressed, “but we don’t feel invincible. At the end of the day, it’s football and we can’t always win. We’ve got to go into every game with humility and knowing where we come from. The important thing is that we keep our feet on the ground.”
“We want to win as many trophies as possible and we’ll go game by game.”
Barcelona v Borussia Dortmund gets underway at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST] on Wednesday 9 April.