Barcelona Dream Ends In Despair, But There’s Hope

The announcement that Xavi is leaving Barcelona at the end of the season has shocked the footballing world. Barcelona have tumbled from one performance to another and the manager hopes that this announcement galvanises the squad to achieve something before the legend departs. Xavi’s manager career will thus end another chapter, albeit earlier than the man himself would have preferred.

Here’s a look at Xavi’s manager career so far, what he has achieved, and what could hold next for the Spaniard after his dream job has ended in frustration.

Xavi’s manager career

Al-Sadd FC- July 2019 to November 2021 (94 games)

Xavi started off his career at Qatar side Al-Sadd. It is the club where he retired as a player after playing for four years.

Unlike other former players-turned-managers, it was a nice introduction to management for Xavi who could go ahead with his development outside the public eye and scrutiny. He took full advantage of the opportunity, finishing that tenure with a great record of 2.21 points per game.

The cups came in spades as he won two Qatari League Cups, one Qatari Stars Cup, two Qatar cups and won the league once in 2020/21.

However, there was an asterisk on his success in Qatar. That is because Al-Sadd are pretty much like the PSG/Bayern of Qatar. Most of the national team plays for Al-Sadd and the gulf between them and the rest of the league is huge.

Furthermore, Xavi was backed tremendously but to his credit, Al-Sadd have never been as dominant as they were with him in charge. Their title-winning season saw them win 19 out of 22 games, scoring a remarkable 77 times, conceding only 14.

It was the season which convinced Barcelona that they had another managerial wonderkid after Pep.

FC Barcelona- November 2021 to July 2024 (122* games)

It all started so well. Xavi took over a team reeling from their financial troubles which had just finished 13 points behind Real Madrid in the previous season. The team had lost its identity, La Masia was cast aside, and new President Joan Laporta was seeking a miracle worker.

Xavi proved to be exactly that. In a perfect homecoming, Xavi addressed pretty much every problem in a remarkable first season.

Barcelona won the La Liga title back from Los Blancos. La Masia was thriving again, with the likes of Gavi, Balde, and more becoming not just token debuts, but established members of the first team.

Los Cules scored 70 goals in the league and conceded just 20 in an all-time defensive display. Multiple…