Barça keep the faith in Xavi despite their Copa del Rey elimination

Barcelona went into the game against Real Madrid as favorites to advance to the Copa del Rey final and Xavi as Los Blancos’ kryptonite, as the Catalans had defeated their archrivals in three of their four Clásico games this season.

However, anything is possible when the two biggest Spanish teams meet and any action or detail in the game can change it all and that’s what happened on Wednesday.

Els Blaugranes, who had recently defeated Real at Camp Nou in LaLiga, expected to repeat that performance to get a ticket to the Copa’s last round, but things played out very differently.

After having a good chance to score the first goal of the match, Barcelona saw how Real Madrid took the lead and leveled up the tie thanks to a Vinicius goal right before halftime. A mishap that the hosts didn’t seem to get over and that Madrid managed to exploit to close the show with an emphatic 0-4.

Despite the way Barça were kicked out of the Copa del Rey, the club’s managing board has total faith in Xavi and believes he’s the ideal candidate to keep leading the team in the future.

New players to be more competitive

Although Barcelona made a huge effort to bring in new players last summer, the club understands they need to sign new players to make the team more competitive, especially when they play in Europe.

Barcelona signed up to seven players but some of them haven’t lived up to the expectations, while other footballers that already were in the squad will likely leave the club at the end of the season to give the institution some very needed cash.

Xavi has asked for, at least, four new players: a midfielder, a right wing-back, a centre-back, and a forward, although before that, the team will need to find an exit for quite a few players.

Some weeks ago, it was reported that Xavi and the club are planning to sell Jordi Alba Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres, Raphinha, and Franck Kessié.