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The 2-4 loss at home to Girona in La Liga had turned up the heat on FC Barcelona and their manager Xavi Hernandez.
Things got even more intense for the Catalans last night as they fell to a shock 3-2 loss against Royal Antwerp in Belgium in what was their final UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture.
It was an underwhelming display from Xavi’s men considering the fact that they were eager to produce a reaction after the Girona loss.
Joan Laporta ‘outraged’ with team’s performance
Following the game, Joan Vehils of SPORT is reporting that Barcelona president Joan Laporta is ‘outraged’ by the performance of the team.
The feeling has been further intensified as Laporta went against some of his board members to appoint Xavi as the manager and now serious doubts are starting to creep in about the 43-year-old’s suitability for the job.
Xavi, for his part, has maintained that things are good between him and Laporta, which is not far from the truth as the Barça supremo wants to back him and put on a united front through this difficult phase.
Xavi under serious scrutiny. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
But the president is far from happy with what he has been seeing from the team in recent matches.
Xavi under pressure
As was reported earlier this week, Xavi finds himself under the pump at Barcelona. Some members of Laporta’s board have lost confidence in the former midfielder and would not be opposed to a change of managers.
Some of the 43-year-old’s post-match comments after the Girona defeat did not go down too well with a section of the board. And the result against Royal Antwerp did not do Xavi any favour either.
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-president-outraged-with-teams-performance-after-3-2-loss-vs-royal-antwerp/
Author : Michel Durant
Publish date : 2023-12-14 08:00:00
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