The Xavi era at Barcelona will soon be over. His exit had been coming for some time, with the pressure building on president Joan Laporta to wield the axe in recent weeks after a poor run of results. But it was the manager who made the call in the end, announcing last weekend that he will leave the post at the end of the season.
And it all makes a lot of sense. Xavi promised much with the delivery of a first Spanish title in four years last season, but has lost all of that momentum. Barca are languishing in fourth place in La Liga, already out of the Copa del Rey, and their hopes of salvaging something from the season hinge on a tricky Champions League last-16 tie with Napoli. It just wasn’t good enough for a club that always expects to be competing for trophies right until the end of the campaign.
Still, his departure has been met with mixed reactions from across the footballing world. Some of his players have made their devastation clear, while the silence from others has been deafening. There will undoubtedly be a range of emotions from around La Liga, too. GOAL runs through the biggest winners and losers from something that probably had to happen for everyone’s sake…
WINNER: Joan Laporta
He didn’t want to have to sack Xavi, but it looked like he’d have to act sooner or later. The manager simply hasn’t been able to build on last year’s success, and Laporta knows as well as anyone that one-off league trophies just don’t cut it in Catalunya.
Although Laporta showed no hesitation in sacking Xavi’s predecessor Ronald Koeman – with whom he never got along – getting rid of Xavi himself would have been much harder. Laporta, as club president, has to handle PR as much as the day-to-day running of the club. Any inappropriate move, or suggestion that he might be rubbing the ‘socios’ the wrong way, could undermine his position.
So, Xavi’s voluntary departure might have saved Laporta’s skin, too. Now all he has to do is find a world-class manager to replace him…
LOSER: Whoever’s next
This wasn’t a pleasant job when Xavi took over in 2021. Barca were, in many ways, fortunate that a club legend was willing to sacrifice his own reputation to clear up an immense mess. And Although Barca are certainly in a better state than they were in November 2021, there are faults all over the club. The squad is too deep in some areas, and notably thin in others. There are question marks about the fitness and durability of key players.
And perhaps most importantly: Barca don’t really have any money. Laporta may have been clever with some of his lever-pulling, but the Blaugrana are still fighting for their financial lives, and likely will be for a few more years yet. The next boss, then, likely won’t have much cash to spend in order to get the Blaugrana back to the top. That could prove to be a toxic combination in a club under so much pressure to deliver trophies.
WINNER: Robert Lewandowski
The striker has looked a disgruntled figure in recent months. Barca aren’t playing particularly attacking football, meaning the Pichichi holder – who thrives when put in a creative team – is feeding off scraps. The results are entirely predictable: Lewandowski has stopped scoring.
His difficulties can be traced back to January 2023, when the manager changed his system to a more rigid 4-4-2. The switch beefed up the Barca midfield, but sacrificed a certain forward thrust. Lewandowski has suffered in front of goal since then – even the arrival of mercurial creative presence Joao Felix couldn’t arrest his slump in earnest.
He now lies at something of a crossroads in his career. Lewandowski is 35, while Barca have already purchased his presumptive replacement in Vitor Roque. His current deal expires in 2026, at which point he will be 38, and presumably on the brink of retirement.
There is every chance that Barca’s next manager will be Lewandowski’s last in European football. The Pole needs a new figure at the helm to help him finish his career with a flourish.
LOSER: Real Madrid
Whether they admit it or not, Los Blancos were probably happy when Xavi took the Barca job. Any instability in Catalunya is met with glee from the Spanish capital, and the arrival of a manager whose only previous experience came at a Qatari side that he used to play for must have led to a few smiles around the Madrid training ground.
They weren’t happy for too long, of course. Xavi’s side comfortably secured the title last season, beating Los Blancos in the Supercopa, and snagging a crucial league victory that all-but wrapped up La Liga. Since then, though, things have been going the other way in Barcelona.
The Blaugrana are a mess right now, and Xavi has, in some ways, been the architect of all of this chaos. Counterintuitive as it may be, Xavi’s decision to depart could be the first step back to stability in Catalunya. That can only be bad news for Los Blancos.
WINNER: Girona’s title hopes
Finally, a pesky Catalonian club can get out of the real title contender’s way! That’s right, Girona will be buzzing that Barca’s collapse has continued. The noisy neighbours turned La Liga hopefuls are going to face a tricky few months if they are to stay in the title race.
Madrid hold a narrow advantage, but Michel’s side, improbably, keep picking up points. Girona’s win at the Olympic Stadium in December showed how large the gulf in quality is between the two teams. Still, Barca remain a dangerous proposition – even at their worst.
Girona can perhaps turn to Leicester’s title run in 2016 for encouragement. That year, Man City, Arsenal and Manchester United all removed themselves from the title picture early. Everything fell the Foxes’ way. The same thing could be happening in Spain.
LOSER: Gavi
Gavi’s goodbye message was a bit dramatic. The midfielder posted an Instagram story that claimed he was “with [Xavi] to death.” This has always been an emotional player, though, a midfielder who functions off the relentless energy that the Blaugrana manager has allowed him to utilise. Gavi is the pest he is because that’s exactly what Xavi requested of him.
It makes sense, then, that Gavi is a bit miffed with the boss’ departure. Xavi brought Gavi into the Blaugrana XI and highlighted him as a key player from day one of his tenure. He has been reluctant to make a direct comparison between himself and the teenager, but has repeatedly insisted that the Golden Boy could someday surpass his legacy.
That is not to say that a new manager will deploy Gavi in a different way. Asking him to change would be a massive misuse of what he’s good at. Still, there is an undeniable bond between the two parties. Gavi has every reason to be gutted to see Xavi leave.
WINNER: Xavi
Perhaps most importantly of all, Xavi gets to breathe again. He was fairly scathing in his assessment of the job on Saturday evening, claiming that being Barca manager had taken a mental toll that he simply could not overcome. Although his decision seemed to be a rash one, he had reportedly weighed up leaving for weeks. In short, Xavi was not happy.
The manager isn’t above blame here. Certainly, he has been subject to the vicious churn of the Barca machine, a byproduct of a club in shambles on and off the pitch. He deserves credit for getting Barca a league title – even if it came in a subpar campaign for Madrid. But he was given time to implement his ideas, and they only really worked for six months.
And now he gets his time off. His next job likely isn’t just around the corner. This is a tough gig to simply move on from. In all likelihood, he will need some space, perhaps months to recuperate. But he can leave Catalunya with a sense of achievement – even if he didn’t build on momentary success.
