Xabi knows there is an expectation that Real Madrid seriously challenge for the title this month, with their opening tie against Al-Hilal on Wednesday night.
He said this morning in Miami, Florida: "We're starting a new era and we have to prioritize what's important: what we want to be, how we want to play, and how we feel about it.
"We want to be able to do that from the very beginning, from the match against Al Hilal. First, we have to recognise ourselves."
Xabi also said: "Little by little, you're getting to know them, you're having that much-needed contact, and little by little, more players are arriving."
We have to speed up everything
He continued: "We have to speed up everything because we have very little time to get to know each other and train. We arrived here and today Lunin , Vinícius Jr. , and Arda Güler came.
"We'll start building a team and we have three training sessions before the game.
"We're coming with a lot of enthusiasm, with the hope of having a good tournament and making it to the end."