Albert GEA / REUTERS
The Catalans coach announced this Saturday that he will leave the club at the end of the season.
Under pressure for several weeks, FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez announced on Saturday that he will leave the Catalan club at the end of the season, after his side were beaten 5-3 at home by Villarreal.
“On June 30, I will leave the club, it’s a decision I made with the president, with the staff”announced the former midfielder at a press conference, when he extended his contract until 2025. “I think the situation deserves a change of direction and, as a +cooler+ (Barcelona supporters’ nickname, editor’s note), I cannot allow this situation to continue”He added after his team’s recent poor performance.
The 2010 world champion with La Roja, who has multiplied expressions of frustration on his bench and in front of the press, wants his departure “Calms the general situation” of the club, which plays “with great stress”. Still in third place, the reigning champions are now ten lengths behind arch-rivals Real Madrid (1st) and eight behind surprise neighbors Girona (2nd) and retain slim hopes of retaining their crown.
The setback was too much against Villarreal when his side went 3–2 up in the 75th minute, making Xavi the FC Barcelona coach who conceded the most defeats during his tenure: 26, including seven in all competitions since the start of the season.
Misleading title?
The 44-year-old Catalan technician, who came to help in 2021 at the club where he shone as a player for almost 20 years, failed to fulfill his mission: to restore the five-time European champions to their greatness and their place. the highest level. Spain’s title as champions, with an unsettling performance under the noses of its Madrid rivals last year and one of Europe’s best defences, nevertheless laid the foundations for a return to the fore.
The former Blaugrana captain in fact allowed the club to regain its playing identity and some stability after years of struggle, despite its major financial problems. But he failed to confirm the improvement, when his team from the start of the 2023/24 season produced a collective game unworthy of its history and its DNA, established by the Dutchman Johan Cruyff.
“We are halfway to being a great Barça again”Xavi Hernandez estimated, when the Blaugrana club had 3 victories in 3 days of C1, before finally talking “Reconstruction” After a heartbreaking defeat at home to Girona (4-2) in December. Defeated in overtime (4-2) by Bilbao in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday and humiliated by rivals Madrid (4-1) in the final of the Super Cup, the Blaugrana club is now dangerously close. Empty season.. Names are already circulating in the press, like former PSG midfielder Thiago Motta, along with other very unrealistic ones (Mourinho, Klopp). But Barcelona will certainly have to settle for a lower-cost alternative, while their finances are still in the red, such as former Mexican central defender Rafael Marquez, the current coach of Barca B.
