Post-Villarreal defeat: Xavi’s emotional explanation of his Barcelona exit to the squad | OneFootball

Following a 5-3 defeat at home to Villarreal, then FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez shocked everyone by announcing in the post-match press conference that he was set to leave the club at the end of last season.

The Spanish tactician was then persuaded by the club to reverse his decision after an upturn in form in the interim period until April only for Joan Laporta to announce that Barcelona were letting go of Xavi at the end of the season in May.

Since then, Hansi Flick was appointed as the manager of the Catalan club and he has made an incredible start to life. Barcelona sit top of the La Liga standings and are playing a free-spirited brand of football that has seen them score a lot of goals.

While things look rosy now, it was a few months of turmoil at Barcelona between Xavi’s resignation, his reinstation, his sacking, and Flick’s appointment and months after the incident, in a sequence on the Barca One documentary, as quoted by SPORT, it has emerged how Xavi explained the players in the dressing room that he was set to leave the club at the end of the season.

Here is what the Spaniard had to say: “Good morning, good morning. I know it’s not an easy day. Firstly, because of yesterday’s shitty result. We’ll analyze what happened to us.”

“I feel bad for not having told you anything before the press conference I held after the match, but I made up my mind a long time ago. It’s not a fit of anger from yesterday because of the defeat. I think I’m starting to be the problem.”

It takes immense courage from the manager to admit that maybe he was becoming the problem for the club and it also shows how much love Xavi Hernandez has for the club that he was willing to step aside when he felt he wasn’t doing a great job.

Joan Laporta & co. however, could have handled the issue better. The rehiring and subsequent sacking of Xavi left a bitter taste in the mouth and it is something that the club could have avoided. Regardless, it is a thing of the past now.

As Barcelona move ahead in the Hansi Flick era, it is very easy to forget the foundations that Xavi laid at the club during his time as the coach. The team is now reaping the rewards of some of his work and one must be eternally grateful to the club legend for the same.