The Barça match began and ended at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the last of the season in the rented Blaugrana fiefdom, against Rayo Vallecano, without Xavi Hernández knowing if he will continue leading the team next season. Coach and president had a brief meeting of just one minute in which Laporta congratulated the coach for the victory against the Vallecanos that meant achieving second place. And he informed her that they would talk at the end of the course about all the noise generated this week.
The information continues to make the president angry and disappointed with Xavi. Firstly, because of his statements made on Wednesday at the press conference prior to the match against Almería in which he asked Barcelona fans for patience in the face of the entity’s financial problems. A vision that, for Laporta, is contrary to that of the exciting speech that Xavi gave on April 24 at his house when he told him that he wanted to continue and that he had rushed to resign in January.
Secondly, Laporta is not convinced by the team’s play either. Sufficient reasons to, from his point of view, consider the continuity of the coach. After beating Almería on Thursday and returning to Barcelona on Friday, Xavi contacted Laporta via WhatsApp to discuss the matter. But the president told him that he was going to Zaragoza for the final of the Queen’s Cup and that they would talk. The distance was remarkable. Therefore, the match against Rayo Vallecano was presented as a plebiscite. “I’m very well. I don’t know if I have a bad face. I have no information. I sleep peacefully. I have a clear conscience. I’m giving everything to make it work. This year hasn’t gone well, but I want to keep working. Let’s start next season and compete,” Xavi told DAZN minutes before he started the ball rolling and without knowing if yesterday was his last game leading the team at home.
“I hope the fans support us as they have done all season and as they have shown me since I arrived here. He has always supported and respected us even in defeat. The anthem already says it: ‘Tots units fem força’. It’s time,” Xavi slipped. Asking, one more day, for there to be a minimum of internal stability in a club in which many believe that the president rushed to ratify the coach without waiting for the course to end.
Curiously, there were no statements from Rafael Yuste, first vice president, nor from the sports director, Deco. Two of Xavi’s main supporters within Barcelona. Yuste has always helped the coach. And he has asked for patience to talk with Laporta. For his part, Deco, absent in Almería because he had to travel to Porto to attend to personal issues and who has been planning the upcoming course with Xavi, was oblivious to the president’s doubts. He quickly returned from Porto. “Deco and Yuste have transmitted calm to me. I guess I have to talk to the president. “I’m sure he will be honest,” said Xavi after the match.
But not. Laporta, who returned from Zaragoza on Saturday night by car worried about the situation and with a bad cold, arrived in Montjuïc an hour and a half before the game with a fever in his vehicle driven by his driver, who avoided the media. Laporta appreciates Xavi for being a legend and because they have a very good personal relationship. But club sources indicate that the president is not happy with his management. “We must also be aware of the environment,” they warned. They had the answer soon. Some of the few members who went to Montjuïc conveyed some discontent with shouts of “Barça yes, Laporta, no” and “Xavi, yes, Laporta no.” Inconclusive expressions given the majority presence of tourists. “Personally I don’t like it when they target a person from the club. It’s not nice. “I feel the affection and esteem, but I don’t like the chants against the president,” said Xavi. With no more objectives to meet in a blank year, the only thing left to know was whether the president would go down to meet with Xavi as he has always done since the coach landed in November 2021 or if he would wait until today to make a decision. “I have shown my face. In January I decided to leave and then I noticed the confidence of everyone, especially the footballers, and I changed my mind,” Xavi insisted, referring to the dinner on April 24 where he shared sushi and hugs after convincing Laporta that he should continue.
Then he ran out of the press room to talk to Laporta. She didn’t find the answer he expected. They met to talk at the end of the season after the game against Sevilla on Sunday at 9 p.m. Even so, Deco and Xavi’s intention was to activate the planning for the next season this week, something difficult for Xavi, who, if nothing changes, will have four press conferences left without any response. Well-informed sources indicate that dismissing the coach and his coaching staff would entail a cost that could be close to 20 million euros. Plus the amount to hire the next one.
