Shocking news for FC Barcelona fans: Coach and club icon Xavi has announced his departure.
The problems at Spanish football champions FC Barcelona are increasingly becoming a crisis – and coach Xavi will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Three days after the cup knockout, the Catalans remained winless for the third time in the last five competitive games in the 3:5 (0:1) defeat against Villarreal FC despite a goal from national team captain Ilkay Gündogan. At the subsequent press conference, club icon Xavi (44) announced that he would be turning his back on the club at the end of the season.
“I will be leaving the club on June 30th, that is a decision that I made with the president and the staff,” said the former midfield star, who took over as coach of the club he loves in autumn 2021 and still has a contract until 2025 .
Barca is in crisis, despite well-known players like Gündogan, Robert Lewandowski or the gems Pedri and Gavi. On Saturday, the Catalans lost further ground to the new league leaders Real Madrid, who temporarily left the previous leaders FC Girona behind with a 2-1 (0-0) win at UD Las Palmas. However, the surprise team can return to the top on Sunday with a success against relegation candidate Celta Vigo.
Against Villarreal, Barcelona completely failed to make amends for their quarter-final exit in the Copa del Rey last Wednesday (2:4 aet at Athletic Bilbao). After their 3-2 lead thanks to a successful comeback, which Gündogan initiated after a 0-2 deficit with his fourth goal of the season (60th), the hosts fell apart in the final phase.
Gündogan and Co. are now ten points behind Real. A successful defense of the title therefore hardly seems realistic anymore. Goncalo Guedes (84th), ex-Leipzig player Alexander Sörloth (90th + 9th) and Jose Morales (90th + 12th) sealed the Blaugrana’s second home defeat of the current season.
In contrast to their arch-rivals, Madrid could not miss their next victory after an equally successful comeback. After the hosts took the lead through Javier Munoz (53′), Vinicius Junior (65′) and Aurelien Tchouameni (84′) turned the game around for Real.