Granit Xhaka posted a heartfelt message on his Instagram page this morning, apologising to the fans for failing to win the Europa League and thanking them for their support.
Seemingly devastated after the European elimination in Madrid, most of the players have gone into hiding on social media. At the time of writing, none of the players have posted anything since the end of the game. The only exception is Granit Xhaka, who uploaded the following:
Xhaka is one of the few members of the team who came over to thank us in the away end for our support after the match, and he was one of the last players down the tunnel.
I really felt for him, as he gave his all over the two legs and looked heartbroken at the final whistle.
It was particularly heart-wrenching after a disgraceful chant from some away fans before the game, calling the Swiss international names and claiming he always loses the ball.
Firstly, the chant is statistically inaccurate. Xhaka compares very favourably to other midfielders in terms of how often he misplaces passes or gets dispossessed. Secondly, it’s just a stupid and hurtful thing to sing ahead of such a massive game.
Xhaka did everything he could to give the fans the win anyway, despite their ungrateful attitude, but it wasn’t enough in the end. Nonetheless, at least he had the guts to post an apology afterwards.
Unfortunately, it seems he’s fully aware of the hate he’ll get anyway, as he disabled comments on the post. What a fanbase.