After playing over 500 games for Barcelona, Xavi was finally lured back to the club as manager in November 2021.
The Spaniard impressed during his first coaching stint with Qatari club Al Sadd and Barcelona convinced Xavi to come back to replace Ronald Koeman after a poor start to the 2021-22 season.
Without former teammate Lionel Messi to call upon, the 42-year-old has had to rebuild a squad short on confidence.
The Sporting News looks at how Xavi has performed so far with Barcelona and what lies next for the manager and the club.
What is Xavi’s record so far as Barcelona manager?
| Games in charge | Wins | Draws | Losses | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 55.3 |
As the stats suggest, Xavi’s first season in charge of Barcelona was a mixed bag as he took some time to make his mark.
After winning his first two La Liga games in charge, the Spaniard’s first defeat came at Camp Nou against Real Betis.
Xavi failed to rejuvenate Barca’s stalling Champions League campaign, drawing 0-0 with Benfica before losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich as the club failed to escape their group.
Barcelona would then be knocked out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage by eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt.
Xavi’s first El Clasico in charge ended in a 3-2 defeat in the Supercopa de España in January, but he got his revenge two months later in the league as Barca smashed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
That victory came during a 15-game unbeaten run for the club in La Liga as they wrapped up second-place despite failing to win their last two matches.
Xavi was unable to pick up any silverware with Barcelona in his first season as the side failed to make a final across the 2021-22 campaign.
How has Xavi improved Barcelona?
Despite some mixed results, Xavi has left an undeniable imprint upon Barcelona during his first season in charge.
The side have become more resilient under the Spaniard and haven’t lost an away game in La Liga since his arrival. They also ended a horror El Clasico run in style by dismantling Real Madrid on their own turf.
Barcelona were sitting ninth in La Liga when their new manager arrived but ended the season comfortably in second.
Results aside, Xavi has given La Masia youngsters like Gavi and Nico Gonzalez a real chance to shine with Gavi in particular impressing this campaign.
His January signings were also quite effective with Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both providing a much-needed attacking spark at times. Aubameyang arrived out of form from Arsenal but has been revived under Xavi, scoring 13 goals across his first 23 matches for Barca.
Despite some early promise, Xavi knows much more work lies ahead to get the Catalans back on track.
“It’s not been a great season, we can’t lie,” Xavi said in May.
“We have improved and the second half of the season in La Liga was good, but do we need to strengthen? Yes.
“We can’t have another trophy-less season. We have to be self-critical and work so hard to be competitive again.”
What’s next for Xavi at Barcelona?
Despite some significant progress already being made, Xavi’s first season as manager of Barcelona will end without any silverware.
The Spanish manager is no stranger to titles, having won six with Al Sadd, and will be desperate to rectify things at Camp Nou over the next year.
Reclaiming the Copa del Rey is a logical first goal for Xavi considering Barca have won the competition a record 31 times before.
Beyond that, challenging Real Madrid in the La Liga title race and an improved UEFA Champions League showing are critical.
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Barcelona look set for a busy off-season of player movement with the possible signing of Robert Lewandowski looming as a real game changer.
“Yes, Lewandowski is an option,” Xavi said ahead of Barca’s final La Liga game of the season.
“He has already said he wants to leave, there are negotiations, but he still has a contract at his club. It won’t be easy being Bayern, but it’s an option.”
Plenty of players also look poised to leave Xavi’s side with the likes of Riqui Puig, Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite, Oscar Mingueza and Ousmane Dembele all linked with potential departures.
Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong is another name that could be added to that list but Xavi has made it clear how much he values him.
“For me, he is a beast of a player and I have told him that,” Xavi said.
“He has the quality to mark an era here. I like him a lot, he’s such a capable player who can dominate games the way we play.
“But we will see what the club’s financial situation is. Again, we’re talking about money, which I don’t want to do, but that’s how it is.”
Having arrived in November last year, Xavi will relish the chance to spend a full off-season remodelling this Barcelona outfit with his first season just the start of what he and fans will be hoping is a successful reign.