anatomy of a humiliation that points to Xavi

It was Xavi’s worst night. A year ago she was living the best life. Now, however, the coach feels more questioned than ever, aware that his figure is increasingly weaker.. Two years and two months after his arrival at the Camp Nou, Xavi observes how his work collapsesunable to find the tactical drawing so that his team feels comfortable.

In Riyadh he resorted to the Barça formula of the four midfielders. But it did not help anything. He finished with the traditional Barça, coinciding with the triple entry of João Félix, Fermín and Lamine Yamal. That is, with three forwards. Neither one nor the other worked, a portrait of that disfigured team that does not decode the messages it receives from its coach.

“We have not stopped their transitions nor have we made tactical fouls. We knew it and we had worked on it,” denounced Xavi, focusing on the fact that his players did not interpret what the final asked for. For this reason, he did not stop “apologizing and apologizing” to the fans. His team does not have a defined identity. It remains to be seen if Xavi will be able to tune into the same language as his team.

Furthermore, that call against Antwerp where players he had discarded were finally put on the plane put his authority into question. Xavi left Lewandowski, Gündogan and Araujo in Barcelona. But they all went to Belgium.

Koundé was in the photo for two of Madrid’s four goals. In the first he prevented, with a clumsy movement, Vinicius from being offside. And in the fourth, Rodrygo’s work, he cleared poorly. Araujo, who ended up sent off, did not arrive in time to thwart Vinicius’ 2-0 lead and later caused the penalty to make it 3-1.

It was, curiously, the same defensive structure that worked so well for Xavi in ​​the Super Cup he won against Madrid a year ago. But Barça has become a transparent team, where its players were surpassed by a Madrid that faithfully fulfilled its game plan.

A defeat that bleeds the Catalans because it is not something temporary. The trend was already downward. In the last eight games, Barça has lost three (Girona, Antwerp and Madrid), giving up a draw (Valencia) and winning four (to Osasuna 2-0 and Almería, Las Palmas and Barbastro by the minimum).

The problem is that Xavi’s team has conceded 17 goals in those eight games and has only scored 15, which portrays the tremendous imbalance it suffers.

Barça had no money. And more than 270 million have been spent on reinforcing a squad that is heading towards a dangerous involution. He sold assets for the next 25 years under the metaphor of ‘levers’ that the president activated Joan Laporta, convinced that he had to bring in veteran players (Lewandowski and Gündogan, among others) that would give immediate results to obtain titles that would restore calm to the club.

They won the Super Cup and the League, but the team has not improved for months. Nor is it evolving, despite the fact that players have been arriving in the last two years. The club has made up to 18 signings in these times of misery resorting to all kinds of formulas to overcome the ‘fair play’ that has bound sports management.

And the last to arrive was Vitor Roque, the young Brazilian forward (30 million fixed euros plus 31 in variables), who did not play a single minute in this Super Cup. Not even in the semifinal against Osasuna. Nor in the final against Madrid where Xavi only used up three of the five substitutions he had.

With Vitor Roque, the figure rises, including those 31 million variables, to 277 million.

Laporta was seen in Riyadh hugging Xavi. Hug in a complicit and affectionate way. Hug of sadness because Barça is not what it should be. But then the president avoided the microphones since he preferred to take refuge in silence.

Xavi spoke. “We came out in the worst possible way to the final. It is unacceptable,” the coach complained bitterly, dejected as he was, while Laporta met with his inner circle to digest a defeat that puts the project in question.

Although the official message remains, for now, under the premise of unity and looking towards the three objectives (League, Cup and Champions) that remain ahead. That does not hide, however, the nervousness that exists within the club. Laporta remains silent and Deco, meanwhile, says what he has to say.

Go, as usual, to the crisis manual that every sports director has. When Mónica Marchante, a Movistar + journalist, questioned him about Xavi’s future, the Barça executive was forceful: “That question makes no sense. This is not the time to talk about that. The coach has the full confidence of the president and sports management. It’s a tough defeat, but it doesn’t change anything,” argued Deco.

Xavi renewed his contract last September until 2025. And he feels energized, despite the worst defeat he has experienced at Barça, to continue leading this project. The lost Super Cup already cost a Barça coach his job.

It was Valverde. January 2020. He fell to Atlético (2-3) and was fired when he was first in the League. Then, the president was Josep Maria Bartomeu. And he wanted to sign Xavi as a substitute, but he didn’t get his way so he ended up turning to Quique Setién.

It is not a template that is comparable to the current one. Not at all. There were Messi, Busquets, Griezmann… Neither the president, nor. Now Laporta is in charge, a leader who had two coaches in his first eight-year mandate: Rijkaard and Guardiola..

In his second term he already fired Koeman on the plane back from Vallecas after losing to Rayo (1-0). “We need to reset. I am the person most responsible. We have recovered from tough defeats many times. We have not been at the level that the match, the final and the club required. Barça will return,” said Xavi.

And Madrid had a final so calm that they couldn’t even believe it.