Under pressure for several weeks, FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez announced on Saturday, after the rout of his team beaten at home 5-3 by Villarreal, that he would leave the Catalan club at the end of the season.
“On June 30, I will leave the club, it is a decision that I took with the president, with the staff,” declared the former midfielder at a press conference, after he had extended his contract until 2025. “I think that the situation deserves a change of course and, as Culer (nickname of Barcelona supporters, editor’s note), I cannot allow this situation to continue,” he added after the new poor performance from his team.
The 2010 world champion with La Roja, who multiplied gestures of frustration on his bench and in front of the press, hopes that his departure “calms the general situation” of the club, which plays “with too much tension”. Still third, the reigning champion is now ten lengths behind its eternal rival, Real Madrid (1st), and eight behind its astonishing neighbor Girona (2nd) and only retains a slim hope of keeping its crown.
This setback too many against Villarreal when his team led 3-2 in the 75th minute made Xavi the FC Barcelona coach who conceded the most defeats during his mandate: 26, including seven since the start of the season all competitions combined.
The 44-year-old Catalan technician, who came to help in 2021 at the club where he shone for almost 20 years as a player, failed to accomplish his mission: to restore the five-time European champion to his greatness and his place at the highest level. The title of champion of Spain, gleaned last year under the nose of its Madrid rival with disconcerting efficiency and one of the best defenses in Europe, nevertheless laid the foundations for a return to the forefront.
The ex-Blaugrana captain had in fact allowed the club to regain its playing identity and a little stability after years of struggle, despite its major financial problems. But he failed to confirm the improvement, while his team has produced since the start of the 2023/24 season a collective game unworthy of its history and its DNA, instilled by the Dutchman Johan Cruyff.
“We are halfway to becoming a great Barça again,” said Xavi Hernandez, when the Blaugrana club had 3 victories in 3 days of C1, before finally speaking of “reconstruction” after the scathing defeat against Girona (4-2 ) at home in December. Eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday by Bilbao in overtime (4-2), and humiliated in the final of the Super Cup against its rival Madrid (4-1), the Blaugrana club is now dangerously close to a blank season. . Names are already circulating in the press, such as that of former PSG midfielder Thiago Motta, alongside other very unrealistic ones (Mourinho, Klopp). But Barcelona will surely have to settle for a low-cost option, while their finances are still in the red, like former Mexican central defender Rafael Marquez, current coach of Barça B.