Barcelona sack Xavi: Did the manager pay the price for being vocal?

Xavi Hernández was sacked as FC Barcelona coach on Friday after the club failed to win a single trophy this season. But the weird thing is that Xavi, who had announced in January this year that he would step down as Barcelona coach at the end of the season due to the team’s poor form, had reversed his decision just in April. The decision to stay came three days after a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid that all but ended the team’s chances of a trophy but was backed by the club president Joan Laporta.

The same Laporta was part of the meeting at the team training ground on Friday which led to the decision of sacking Xavi. Laporta “informed Xavi Hernández that he will not be continuing as first team coach in the 2024-25 season,” the club said in a statement on Xavi.

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Xavi led Barcelona to the Spanish La Liga title last season but his team has struggled this campaign, which will finish without a title and a distant second to champion Real Madrid.

What changed since April?

But as mentioned earlier, that clearly isn’t the reason for Xavi leaving the club. Laporta backed the former Barcelona player as recently as in April despite the reality being somewhat similar. The crucial thing that changed between April and May, however, is Xavi’s recent comments that Barcelona’s poor financial situation would make it nearly impossible to compete against Real Madrid and Europe’s other top clubs.

“The situation is difficult, it is very complicated, especially to compete with the biggest rivals, such as Real Madrid in Spain or Europe,” Xavi had said ahead of a game against Almeria.

“We have an economic situation that is nothing like 25 years ago, when a coach could come here and say, ‘I want him and him and him’. It’s not like that now.

“We aren’t in the same situations as teams that have a better ‘fair play’ or economic situation as us. Fans have to understand this. I understand it and I have spoken to [club president] Joan Laporta and [sporting director] Deco,” Xavi added.

After the rumors started in local media that Laporta was considering firing the former midfielder for his criticism of the club.

The rumours came true on Friday and it’s impossible to not link the final decision to the leaks in the media that Laporta was unhappy with Xavi’s comments.

Meanwhile, Xavi bade farewell to Barcelona fans on his Instagram page. He had no ill words for Laporta and thanked the executive, players and staff for their support.

“Beyond being a player and coach, first and foremost I am a Barça supporter and I only want the best for the club,” he wrote. “This season has not gone the way we would have liked, but we gave it our all and helped foster a new generation of players from La Masia (training academy) that have thrilled our fans.”

Spanish and German media speculated former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick as Xavi’s replacement.

Xavi’s last game in charge will be on Sunday at Sevilla on the final day of the league.

Barcelona’s financial trouble

The Spanish giants were forced to lose Lionel Messi due to monetary constraints and after flirting with bankruptcy under Laporta’s predecessor, Barcelona are still struggling financially and has had its salary cap greatly reduced in recent seasons. It can only spend some 204 million euros ($221 million) on players and coaching staff, including salaries and transfer payments, compared to Madrid’s 727 million euros ($788 million).

Barcelona have tried to sell Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong and is likely to look to shed salaries. So it is not unthinkable that Robert Lewandowski or goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could be for sale.

With AP inputs