With calls mounting in Spain for Barça’s current coach Xavi Hernandez to be sacked, Joan Laporta, the Catalan club’s president, is calming things down and wants to wait for results at the end of the season before taking action.
Xavi Hernandez will continue in charge of Barça. Sandwiched by the Spanish media and some of the club’s supporters for the team’s poor performances and, above all, their rollercoaster ride, the 43-year-old Catalan coach has been given one last chance, let’s say by his managers. Barça president Joan Laporta has made it clear what Xavi can expect if his team perform poorly at the end of the season.
“He has all our confidence and he deserves it. When you put your trust in someone, they give their all. We have complete confidence in Xavi. Apart from his knowledge, he is a great coach, but he also has the virtue of being a resilient person who protects his players, which says a lot about Xavi. He’s also had to overcome a lot of adversity this season because of injuries, and he’s overcoming them,” Laporta began by telling the Spanish media on Monday.
“If we don’t win any titles this season…”
“There are always consequences to defeat. If we don’t win any titles this season, we’ll have to make decisions, the ones the club needs most, based on what’s been done. The fact is that we’re alive and kicking in all the competitions,” adds the Barça president.
In short, Xavi Hernandez will not be sacked from the club before the end of the season, given the difficulties he is facing with injuries and absences. With a short break coming up over the Christmas holidays and reinforcements in the pipeline, including Victor Roque who is expected in Catalonia on December 27, the former Barça midfielder will have everything he needs to get back on track in the second half of the season, where he will have to win titles if he hopes to continue.
Can Xavi win La Liga again?
Before the weekend’s match against Valencia, Xavi himself confided that he would not mind being sacked at the end of the season if he failed to win any trophies. Clearly, he has been heard and will be taken at his word. Barça are currently in contention to win the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey, to name but a few. Given the face of the Catalan team at the moment and the players to come, what are Xavi’s real chances of getting his hands on a trophy this season?
In La Liga, things are already looking bleak with Girona enjoying a fine season, currently top of the Spanish league on 44 points, 9 points ahead of Barça, provisionally third (one game ahead of fourth-placed Atlético) on 35 points. With Real Madrid also in second place on 42 points and having a marvellous season with Jude Bellingham, it’s going to take a few twists and turns to see Xavi’s club move to the top of the table at the end of the season.
Barça underdogs in the Champions League
Barça’s chances in La Liga are already slim, but in the Champions League it’s even slimmer with the presence of big names like Bayern, Manchester City, Inter, Real and even PSG. With the group stages of the competition just over and the round of 16 already scheduled for February, Barça will have to work hard to get past Napoli. In any case, the bookmakers are giving Xavi’s team no chance of lifting the trophy they have not touched since 2015.
As for the rest, Barça’s chances in the Copa del Rey, for example, are much more acceptable than the two competitions mentioned above, but we mustn’t forget the presence of Real Madrid, the great rivals, and Atlético Madrid, who often play tricks when you least expect them. In any case, Xavi has his work cut out for him. Joan Laporta is unlikely to make the same speech he did on Monday in the event of a disaster at the end of the season.
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