Reporter Han Bing reported that just 89 days later, Barcelona is still empty, but Xavi's fate has reversed 180°. On January 27, the Barcelona coach suddenly announced his resignation at the end of the season, causing a sensation in public opinion. After nearly 3 months and 15 games, when Barcelona was eliminated by Paris in the Champions League and missed the top 4, the La Liga national derby lost to Real Madrid again, and was "three kills" by his sworn enemy in the season, Xavi accepted the graciously retention of Barcelona President Laporta and chose to stay in the team to complete the contract until next summer.
Xavi's reversal of fortunes at Barcelona seems to be the same as it was three months ago. At that time, Barcelona lost 1-4 to Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup national derby in Saudi Arabia, and was eliminated by Athletic Bilbao 2-4 in extra time in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, and then lost 3-5 at home to Villarreal in the league. Barcelona missed two trophies in two weeks, lost three big games by a big score, and Xavi resolutely announced his resignation at the end of the season under the surging public opinion.
At that time, Xavi chose to leave, and the reason was for Barca: "As a diehard Barça loyalist, I can't allow the current situation to happen. On the 25th, Barcelona held a press conference to announce Xavi's stay, and the reason for the Barcelona coach was still the same: "Everyone knows that I am from Barcelona, and everything I do is to give priority to Barcelona." Now I have the trust of the chairman, the board, the sporting department, the players and the fans, and their trust is a big reason why I stay. ”
In fact, Xavi had already met with sporting director Deco as early as the 24th, and then the two went to Laporta's house. In the end, after the kindness of the Barcelona president, Xavi agreed to stay in the team. The Spanish media have been confirmed in advance from Barcelona Vice President Yust, and the press conference on the 25th is just an official announcement process.
There were a number of reasons for Xavi's change of heart, one of which was the overall improvement in Barca's results after announcing his departure at the end of the season at the end of January. Barcelona was unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions: La Liga beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 away to overtake dark horse Girona to move up to second place, Champions League 1/8 final elimination Napoli, 1/4 final first leg away 3-2 away to Paris. At that time, the Spanish media had been constantly testing whether Xavi would waver, but Xavi insisted that he would not change his mind. But when Barcelona won six consecutive victories on both fronts, Xavi's attitude began to change. He was open to questions about whether he would leave at the end of the season, giving hope to Laporta, who had been hoping for Xavi to stay for the past three months.
The important reason why Xavi insisted on leaving at the end of January was not only that he believed that he could no longer improve Barcelona's performance, but also because Barcelona's debt crisis caused it to be unable to bring in reinforcements, and the team could not be strengthened to maintain the championship competitiveness. However, in the past three months, Laporta has made a breakthrough in the club's efforts to save money and reduce costs, Barcelona forced Nike to renew the equipment sponsorship contract at a sky-high price of 120 million euros / year, and the renovation project of the Camp Nou has also progressed smoothly. Under the premise of a sharp drop in total wages, Barça's economic department assesses that it is expected to turn a profit this season, and the pre-tax profit may reach 11 million euros. This means that Barcelona can no longer be bound by the Financial Fair Play Act in the summer window, and have far more money than in previous seasons.
At the same time, in the past 3 months, Xavi has let go of the reuse of newcomers, Yamal, Koubasi, Fermin, Jiuu and other La Masia rookies, plus the new Roque, so that Laporta sees the hope of Barcelona's "La Masia revival". And the best person to lead the revival of this youth army is undoubtedly Bole Harvey.
Barça's management did assess possible new managers, but Marcos Alonso, Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel and Flick are not only financially costly, but also at risk of a run-in period that fits into La Masia's style. B coach Marquez and Serie A Bologna coach Motta are both familiar with Barca's environment, and the two are considered the natural heirs of Xavi. However, after Barcelona's overall results improved and Xavi's attitude changed, Laporta chose to continue to "cooperate" with Xavi. After all, it is still a familiar team, and Xavi, who is a legend of Barcelona, has far more business and popularity appeal than Max and Motta.
Staying in office can be called a "win-win-win" outcome for the Barcelona management, the team and Xavi. The club does not need to gamble heavily on a new manager, and the predominantly newcomer dressing room sees hope of continuing to grow under Xavi, who has the funds to bring in summer signings and can at least partially advance his plans to revive Barcelona. Although the season with all four empty seasons was a failure, perhaps, keeping Xavi has been the success of Barcelona's failed season.