2024-01-28 18:28:02
MADRID (AP) — Barcelona will keep Xavi Hernández on the bench, in a show of support for the coach despite his decision to resign at the end of the season.
Joan Laporta, the president of the Catalan club, said on Sunday that he will not change coaching and placed his trust in Xavi’s commitment even though he will leave.
Laporta met with the coach and the squad a day later a day after Xavi announced his plans to leave. Xavi revealed his intention after the 5-3 defeat suffered at home against Villarreal in the Spanish League.
“Xavi told me that at the end of the season he would leave. I wanted to finish the season, and it is a formula that I accept because it is Xavi who proposed it to me, who is a legend of Barcelona fans,” Laporta said. “He is an honest person who acts with all dignity and who loves Barça. The commitment of him and his staff is maximum until the end of the season.”
The defeat against Villarreal left Barcelona 11 points behind leader Girona and 10 below Real Madrid. The Blaugranas had just been eliminated by Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey and lost 4-1 to Madrid in the Super Cup final.
“The League is difficult, but it is not lost yet. You have to fight to be the best possible, without ruling out winning. “We have to give everything we have to try to win the Champions League,” said Laporta. “I think that with commitment, with more character, without losing concentration and with the coach giving everything, which I know he will, and with the players with full commitment we will be able to achieve some of the objectives we have set for ourselves at the end of the season.”
Barça will face Napoli in the round of 16 of the Champions League, a competition in which they capitulated in the group stage of the last two editions, all after the departure of Lionel Messi.
Laporta did not mention anything about the search for a successor for Xavi. The club suffers from a difficult economic situation, suffocated when it comes to signing new players.
The leader also called for “unity” and thanked the cub fans for their support, despite a “complicated season” that included temporarily moving to the Montjuic Olympic Stadium while the renovation works at the Camp Nou continue.
According to Barça, Xavi met with his team before training on Sunday to explain his decision to leave.
In a press conference on Saturday, Xavi indicated that the club needs a “change of direction.”
Xavi assured that the decision to leave before the end of the course was made before the defeat against Villarreal, although the defeat accelerated the announcement. He maintained that he hopes the decision will serve to alleviate the stress placed on him and the team.
“The feeling of being a Barça coach is unpleasant, it is cruel,” he said. “You feel that they disrespect you many times, that your work is not valued. This is a terrible drain on your mental health and your state of mind.” .
Xavi took the reins of the team on November 6, 2021, replacing Ronald Koeman, after having coached Al-Sadd SC in the Qatar League.
The Blaugranas won two titles under his command last season — with the Spanish Super Cup and the league title. They won again in the local course for the first time since the 2018-2019 season.
Their experience in the Champions League was two eliminations in the group stages — the first having already started the first phase by Koeman.
Throughout 121 games to date, it has a record of 76 wins, 20 draws and 25 losses. On Wednesday he will return to the bench to direct the pending game he has at home against Osasuna.
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