Shall we start with the formalities? Barcelona beat relegated Almeria 2-0 to take a crucial step towards securing second place in La Liga – and its consequent €6m implications. They are now four points above Girona, with two games to play. Next week, they host Rayo Vallecano at home to complete the job.
The win over Almeria should have been one to savour Fermin Lopez’s excellent debut season. A week of training in July impressed Xavi and gave the 21-year-old a last-minute spot on the pre-season tour, preventing him from being sold, and the midfielder has not looked back. He scored both of the goals in Almeria to reach 10 for the season.
But the victory will come down as the possibly definitive night — being bold with Barca’s decisions nowadays is tricky — in the saga of Xavi’s future.
Twenty-two days after Xavi shook hands with president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco, as they announced he would be staying for one more year, Xavi’s job is again at risk.
This context has been brewing for weeks, but the straw that broke the camel’s back took place last Wednesday, when Xavi was going through the usual pre-match media duties.
Lopez’s goals were overshadowed by the absence of Laporta and Deco (JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images)
The mood around the club is far from exciting. Barca have struggled to secure second spot and champions Real Madrid are 12 points away while they wait for another Champions League final, in which Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be clear favourites. Then, there is Kylian Mbappe’s expected arrival at the Bernabeu.
Xavi was asked about a message he could send to all Barcelona fans to lift their spirits. His reply was a brutal dose of reality.
“The Barcelona fans need to understand we are in a difficult situation, especially on the economic side,” he said. “Our financial situation is not the same as 20 years ago, when the club manager could say, ‘I want to sign this player, this player and this player’. And we got them all.
“The fans have to realise we need to adjust to this. I am doing it and we will do it together as a club. That does not mean we won’t compete. We will try our best.”
Those words were followed by more demands from Xavi to strengthen the squad in the summer. “The target is to improve by bringing in new players in. If we do not change, we won’t get better.”
It all felt like throwing gasoline onto the bonfire that is Barcelona’s highest offices. As the first-team squad flew over to Almeria, important faces were missing on the plane. The president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco decided not to join the rest of the team as usual.
Barca’s press office said Laporta could not make it due to his busy schedule and meetings he had to attend in Barcelona. Deco had scheduled a business trip to Portugal.
Sources close to Laporta, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, felt the “pessimistic” message Xavi transmitted was the opposite of what the 44-year-old told Laporta when he reconsidered his decision to leave the club. They were unimpressed by how Xavi seemed to forget the effort the club made to provide him with a competitive squad two summers ago, when Barcelona pulled their infamous financial levers to land high-end signings like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.
The same sources say the squad is more competitive than it has been described by the manager, who has not been able to get the best out of the players.
“This narrative of not having a good enough squad is something he didn’t use last season when he won the title, and there have not been that many changes from one year to the other,” said the source. “Only Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembele left. Now Lamine Yamal is in and he’s had, overall, a bigger impact than Dembele.”
The post-match press conference in Almeria was set to be, once again, a dramatic one.
“Changes in my future? No one has told me anything,” Xavi said. “There are no changes, it’s all normal. Before the game, I said what I believe is the club’s real situation. We will compete, but the context is not easy.
“I’m fully motivated to continue. I’m looking forward to the start of pre-season. We are planning the summer with Deco and I have enough ambition to stay in this project. We are all working to revert a financial situation which is far from the best, but we are all in this together.
“No one from my camp told me to resign in recent hours. My coaching staff is fully committed and we are getting results to have more titles to compete for next season. I understand the noise around the club but I’m excited for the future.”
Unlike his words, Xavi’s expression throughout the press conference revealed a man who knows there is a lot going on behind the scenes — but opted to stay true to his plan and to his contract.
During this season, sources close to Xavi believe the manager has been a victim of the triumphalist narrative that surrounds the club permanently. The constant need to win, the obligation to deliver a level of excellence that, according to them, this team is not ready to offer regularly.
From left, Deco, Laporta and Xavi last month after it was confirmed the coach was staying (LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
This is why Xavi has been asking for new signings and why, in the meantime, he will not raise expectations with his words. But all this has come too late.
The relationships between individuals are too toxic and briefings are so frequent that it is difficult to believe Xavi can comfortably lead Barcelona’s project next season.
It all goes back to April 23, the day it was confirmed Xavi was staying as Barca’s manager, despite resigning in January. That day, in a general board meeting, a majority of the executives agreed on a potential decision to let him go. That same night, Xavi attended a late emergency meeting at Laporta’s home to convince the president to give him a second chance.
Now he is in a club where the sporting director has been frustrated by his abrupt changes of mind, with a board that wanted him out and a president that once told him which players he had to use — Laporta interfered in Xavi’s squad selection against Antwerp in the Champions League — and is now telling him what to say in press conferences.
Maybe they will find a new magical way to justify how Barcelona’s ludicrous circus can somehow stay like this.
(Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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