BARCELONA
Barça under global press spotlight as they react to Xavi exit “bombshell”
Saturday’s announcement by the FC Barcelona coach has grabbed a multitude of headlines with speculation now growing on potential successors.
Barcelona’s defeat in Montjuic on Saturday night has had significant consequences as Xavi Hernandez announced that he will leave the club 30 June, despite the coach having a deal in place with the club through to 2025. The former player has been constantly under fire in the past few weeks and his team have slipped up time and time again with a poor showing at the Super Cup shortly followed up with a Copa del Rey quarter final exit last week at the hands of Athletic. His side are still alive in the Champions League as the domestic league looks to set to be a two horse race between Girona and Real Madrid.
Following the bombshell news on Saturday, Xavi’s departure has dominated the headline in the global press corps.
Mundo Deportivo: “Xavi had already decided”
Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo allege that the Terrassa born coach had already made his mind: “Xavi Hernández has made the decision not to continue beyond June 30, despite having a contract until 2025. This was confirmed by the coach in his post-match press conference after meeting with the president, Joan Laporta. The club has closed ranks around him and it was agreed by both sides that Xavi will continues through to the end of the 2023-24 campaign”.
La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Crisis of cosmic dimensions”
The Italian newspaper state: “On Saturday night, Barcelona went to hell, managed to come back but then returned there with numerous and serious defensive errors”.
The also focused on the Champions League Round of 16 game as Barça face Napoli with the UEFA competition the only realistic silverware on the table for the Catalan giants with Barça currently ten points Real Madrid and eight Girona.
Bild: “Explosion in Spain: Xavi leaves Barça”
The German newspaper highlights the coach’s words when announcing his goodbye in four months: “We have reached a point where there is no turning back. It’s time for a change. As a culé I think it’s time to leave. Today I spoke with the board and the club. I will leave on June 30.”
Xavi also added that the idea of Barcelona having an ‘Alex Ferguson is impossible under the current climate’.
A Bola: “Xavi’s problem is not energy”
Lisbon based A Bola talk of a bomb going off at Barcelona as Xavi Hernández announces he will leave the Blaugrana coaching position at the end of this season and contrast his decision with that of that taken by Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool, when he announced that he no longer had the energy to continue leading the Reds to the maximum next season. Xavi’s problem is not a lack of energy but feels that as things stand, overseeing the Catalan club in the current climate is an impossible task.
Globoesporte: “Xavi to leave after growing pressure following recent results”
The Brazilian media also dedicates plenty of space to the news of Xavi’s June departure: “Following a series of poor results in the 2023/24 season, the coach says that he will not fulfill his contract until the end: ‘The club needs a change. A Ferguson at Barça is impossible. Xavi has been Barça coach since November 2021, just over two years ago, and had renewed his contract in September of last year until the end of the 2024/25 season. However, is under enormous pressure given the latest results, with the eliminations in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey and the distance with Real Madrid and Girona in the fight for the Spanish title”.
Globoesporte hints that Thiago Motta is a potential suitor: “Even before this Saturday’s announcement, the Spanish press reported that the Italian-Brazilian Thiago Motta, coach of Bologna, would be a target for the Barcelona board.”
Xavi will bring his time with FC Barcelona to a close on 30 June and now speculation begins on who will succeed the former player with Motta, Porto boss Sergio Conceição, Girona’s Michel and Rafa Marquez (the Mexican is currently the B team manager) and even Jurgen Klopp being linked with the Barça bench.
