Xavi is at a loss
© REUTERS/JUAN MEDINA
The 44-year-old surprisingly announced his departure from the club he loved on Saturday evening.
The FC Barcelona lost a dramatic home game against FC Villarreal with 3:5 and are now ten points behind in the table Real Madrid and eight points behind Girona in third place. Immediately after the game, the coach left Xavi The bombshell burst: the 44-year-old, whose contract runs until 2025, will leave the club after this season at the end of June.
Curious game
His team had previously lost a strange match against Villarreal. Ilkay Gündogan (60th), Pedri (68th) and an own goal from Eric Bailly (71st) on the one hand as well as goals from Gerard Moreno (41st), Ilias Akhomach (54th) and Goncalo Guedes (84th) ensured for a 3-3 score before the start of stoppage time.
There, the Barca defense failed to get the ball out of the penalty area several times in a slapstick move, and in the end goalie Inaki Pena also did a bad job and Alexander Sörloth put the ball into the net in the 99th minute. If that wasn’t enough, Jose Luis Morales (102nd) secured the final point in favor of 14th place in the table.
“It is a decision that I discussed with the President, Rafa Yuste, Deco and the staff. I think the situation deserves a change,” said Xavi in the press conference. “The decision has been made for a few days. Given the circumstances, now is the moment. I’m thinking about the club and the well-being of the players.”
Xavi played almost his entire career with the Catalans. He ended it in Qatar. He has been coaching at FC Barcelona since November 2021.