5 managers who could replace under-fire Xavi at Barcelona

Restoring Barcelona’s status as Spain’s leading force was not enough to wrap Xavi Hernandez in an invincibility cloak.

The former Barca midfielder oversaw the club’s La Liga triumph last season amid the backdrop of continued continental failure, and an indifferent 2023/24 campaign has rendered Xavi’s position at the club vulnerable.

Barca’s emphatic defeat to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final, a year removed from their impressive success in the competition over their Clasico rivals, depicted yet another power shift at the summit of Spanish football.

Despite Girona’s out-of-nowhere majesty, Madrid are expected to regain the La Liga crown with Barca unlikely to even challenge. Xavi has already admitted that a trophy-less 2023/24 campaign could spell the end of managerial tenure in Catalonia, although the boss must harbour hopes of Copa del Rey success.

Barca’s turbulent campaign thus far suggests serenity isn’t around the corner, and talk regarding a Xavi successor is starting to intensify.

Here’s how 90min ranks five potential candidates for the Barcelona job.

Mourinho’s history with Barcelona is extensive and complicated. The Portuguese first arrived at the club as an assistant with Sir Bobby Robson in 1996, spending four years in Catalonia.

He’d later interview for the job in 2008 before Pep Guardiola took charge, although the ‘Special One’ would later suggest he was “never close” to taking the job.

Mourinho would then play the role of antagonist after masterminding an unforgettable defeat of Pep’s Barca in the 2009/10 Champions League semi-finals. After guiding Inter to the treble that season, he duelled bitterly with the Blaugrana as Real Madrid boss – eventually ending Barca’s domestic dominance in 2011/12.

Mourinho’s unemployed status means some have talked up the possibility of the all-time great coach returning to the Camp Nou, but it’d just be wrong on so many levels.

“It is clear that I will end my career without having coached Barca,” Mourinho said following Inter’s semi-final triumph in 2010.

Barcelona could go down the route they chose in 2008 by employing the current incumbent of Barcelona Atletic.

Their gamble paid off 16 years ago when they promoted Guardiola to lead the senior team, but it’d certainly be a risk to offer Rafa Marquez a…