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Xavi Hernández’s era at Barcelona has been an adventure full of highs and lows, happy moments but also painful ones – a rollercoaster full of emotions.
The Spanish coach started the managerial job at Barcelona on November 6, 2021, following Ronald Koeman’s departure.
Back then Xavi, with the few resources he had, showed that FC Barcelona could compete and that he was just a few signings away from making the step up.
Xavi’s Barcelona had very positive peaks in his first full season, of course, winning La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, and having the best defense in Europe, but Barcelona did not seem to be on top of their performances overall.
The second full season came with higher expectations, but instead of improving, everything collapsed.
Injuries, lack of players in important positions, media pressure, predictable tactics – in short, an accumulation of things that brought Xavi’s Barca to a standstill.
It seemed that the Spanish manager lost the confidence of the players. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, in other words.
Xavi finally announced his departure from Barcelona at the end of the 2023/24 season on January 27, 2024, following the chaotic 3-5 defeat to Villarreal in La Liga, leaving Barcelona 10 points behind Real Madrid.
With this announcement, the club’s mindset has changed altogether.
On several occasions the four-time Champions League winner insisted that announcing his decision to leave was a positive thing for the club, considering that it liberated them from pressure. And he was not wrong.
The Blaugranas are unbeaten in 9 games in all competitions since that announcement, including a Champions League quarter-finals ticket.
It is clear that something has changed, and that time is proving him right.
Xavi: “People didn’t believe me. I said that the team would be liberated if I announced my decision to step aside at the end of the season. So what now? We’re in the quarter finals, as one of the top 8 teams in Europe….
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/three-reasons-why-xavi-should-consider-staying-at-barcelona/
Author : Javier Giorgetti
Publish date : 2024-03-13 14:20:21
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