Barcelona is one of those clubs where trophies are expected every year and anything less than that is considered a failure. And the club’s head coach Xavi Hernandez, who previously played for the Catalan giants for 18 years, is well aware of that.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Xavi acknowledged that he might be out of a job after this season if he doesn’t start delivering trophies to the club’s trophy room.
“This is Barca. With the effort made by the club [in the transfer market] and the squad we have, we have to compete for trophies,” said Xavi. “And if we don’t win, as the president said, there will be consequences, starting with me.”
Barca is coming off a disappointing week that saw them lose almost all chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. They also suffered a humbling 3-1 defeat to their archrivals Real Madrid. Still, Xavi believes he can turn things around.
“I think we have built a team to win trophies,” he added. “I have still got all the enthusiasm in the world, despite all the criticism over the last week.”
Xavi succeeded Ronald Koeman as Barcelona’s head coach last November and guided the team to a second-place finish in La Liga and the semi-finals of Copa del Rey in 2021-22. The 42-year-old player has spent 50 games as Barca’s boss so far and has a 28-12-10 record.
