Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League woes only worsened on Wednesday night as their slim hopes of progressing to the knockout stages were dashed in brutal fashion.
Not ony did Inter Milan win 4-0 in a match they had to lose, but Barca themselves were overpowered by Bayern Munich 3-0 at Camp Nou.
While the Spanish side have already done enough to secure a Europa League spot, their recent Champions League record is a serious cause of concern for the club.
Pressure will now inevitably ramp up on manager Xavi, who was tasked with getting Barcelona competitive in Europe again.
MORE: Which teams can still progress to the Champions League round of 16?
Could Barcelona sack Xavi?
After a costly 3-3 draw with Inter Milan a fortnight ago, rumours emerged of Barcelona president Joan Laporta not being happy with Xavi.
Laporta was, however, quick to publicly throw his support behind the Spanish manager.
“There is total confidence in Xavi. He is a great coach and he will surely go on and give us great success in the future,” Laporta told Barca TV.
“He knows the club perfectly, he knows how we play and he is ideal for Barca. He has our support and he knows it, and it’s important that he knows there is this trust so that things go well.
“We were all excited about this Champions League, but there are other competitions like the La Liga that we can win.”
Even after Barcelona’s exit from the UCL was confirmed on Wednesday, Laporta once again went out of his way to praise Xavi to suggest he won’t be sacked anytime soon.
“We’ve got to look forward. We knew that in this process of rebuilding the team there would be ups and downs,” Laporta said.
“The message to the fans is let’s look forward. Xavi also made youngsters play so that they can grow.”
The pressure will now be on Xavi to ensure Barcelona can make a good run in the Europa League after they were knocked out in the quarterfinals last season.
❝I want to thank the fans … from the first minute to the last, they were cheering the players on … we have the best fans in the world.❞
— 🎙 @JoanLaportaFCB pic.twitter.com/smuhk0IpIl
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 26, 2022
What is Xavi’s Champions League record?
Although he won the UEFA Champions League four times as a player, Xavi is yet to achieve much success in the competition as a manager.
The 42-year-old has overseen seven games to date and picked up just one win – with that single victory coming against Barca’s next opponent Viktoria Plzen.
Xavi has notably had to contend with Bayern Munich three times in the competition with his side yet to score against them while conceding eight goals in return.
Barca have struggled at both ends under Xavi in the Champions League and have been kept scoreless in five of his seven games to date.
| Games | W-D-L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1-2-4 | 8 | 13 |
Xavi’s Barcelona contract length
Xavi was appointed Barcelona manager in November 2021.
He was handed an initial contract that runs until the end of the 2023/24 season.
While Barca are yet to offer Xavi a new, longer deal they did back him considerably over the off-season as the club spent big money to sign the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha.
Though they failed to fire Barcelona into the knockout stages of the Champions League this season, Xavi will be hoping he’s given the time to mould them into challangers again moving forward.
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