Barcelona sacked its coach, Xavi Hernandez, after he failed to win any title this season, settling for second place in the Spanish League behind rival Real Madrid, the champion, according to what the Catalan club announced today. In his last match as coach, Xavi will supervise Barcelona when he visits Sevilla on Sunday in the final 38th round of the league, before he leaves. Barcelona said in a statement, “Barcelona President Joan Laporta informed Xavi Hernandez that he will not continue as coach for the 2024-2025 season.”
The shares of German Hansi Flick, former coach of Die Mannschaft and Bayern Munich, rose in succession to Xavi, according to media reports.
Flick (59 years old) has not coached Xavi’s potential replacement since the German national team sacked him in 2023 after a series of poor results. He previously led Bayern to win the treble in 2020, including a crushing 8-2 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals. In January, former midfield ‘maestro’ Xavi said he would leave at the end of the season, but after a string of good results, he and president Laporta agreed in April that he would stay for next season, with his contract expiring in June 2025.
But the situation changed quickly after local media reported that Laporta was angry at Xavi’s comments, which indicated that it was difficult for the financially struggling Catalan club to compete with its arch-rival, Real Madrid, and other elite European clubs. Barcelona’s statement continued, “Barcelona wants to thank Xavi for his work as a coach, which adds to his unparalleled career as a player and captain of the first team, and we wish him all the best in the future.” He added, “In the coming days, Barcelona will reveal the new training structure for the first team’s technical staff.”
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