{"id":2560,"date":"2026-09-15T18:16:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T10:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/?p=2560"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:16:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T10:16:48","slug":"the-champions-league-before-you-win-you-have-to-lose-and-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/the-champions-league-before-you-win-you-have-to-lose-and-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Champions League? Before you win, you have to lose and learn&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-18.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-18.png 1000w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-18-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-18-767x432.png 767w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rodrigo Hernandez, Barcelona&#8217;s marquee signing of the transfer window, has played down the Blaugrana&#8217;s tag as Champions League &#8220;favourites&#8221;, though he insists they remain firmly in contention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a preview of an interview with &#8216;Mundo Deportivo&#8217;, the recent World champion weighed up FC Barcelona&#8217;s European prospects: &#8220;It is an achievable title and, so to speak, the definitive step we must take to establish ourselves and show Europe what kind of team we are.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Beyond that, I do not think we are favourites. We have to understand where we come from and what it takes to become champions, and this squad still needs to refine a few things to reach that level. The Champions League is not about who is the best; it is a competition of moments and of understanding when those moments arise,&#8221; explained Rodri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The midfielder maintained that continental triumph demands a steep learning curve: &#8220;It is closely tied to experience. Before you win, you have to lose and you have to learn, and those of us who have won major honours know that all too well. I played in the Champions League countless times before I was finally able to lift the trophy.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rodrigo Hernandez, Barcelona&#8217;s marquee signing of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2562,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2560\/revisions\/2562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dxtynews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}