Xavi to leave Barcelona at the end of the 2023-24 season

Tom Weber

• Updated: 28 Jan 2024 08:30 GMT
• 3 min read

Breaking

Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez is stepping down at the end of the season, he has announced.

The Blaugrana boss revealed his decision to leave his post at the post-match press conference after Barcelona were humiliated 5-3 by a Villarreal side that had been winless in four games.

It was the first time in 63 years that the club conceded five goals on home soil and Xavi's side have already conceded as many goals in 32 games this season as they did over the course of the entire previous campaign.

In recent weeks, Barcelona also suffered punishing defeats against Real Madrid (4-1) in the Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia and against Athletic Club (4-2) in the Copa del Rey. The club find themselves ten points off league leaders Real Madrid in LaLiga.

Xavi quits

In the wake of the 5-3 defeat to Villarreal, Barcelona head coach Xavi, who had been under pressure for weeks amid a string of poor results, faced the media and announced his decision to step down at the end of the current campaign.

"Before you ask me the pertinent questions, I want to announce that as of June 30, I will not continue as coach of Barça," he said. "We have been talking about it with [president Joan] Laporta and with the sports department, and as a culer I believe that the club needs a change of dynamic."

"As a culer, thinking about the club and the players, I think they will free themselves and will be calmer now. Thinking as a club man, I think the best thing is to leave on June 30. That said, I will continue to give my best until then. With four months left, I think we can have a good season and I hope the dynamic changes. It is a situation that requires common sense and I have decided that on June 30, I will not continue as Barça coach."

His decision comes just a little over a month after he vehemently denied that he was considering quitting. Just last week, a defiant Xavi said: "The day they [the players] are no longer with me, I will leave. We have to wipe the slate clean. We have always believed...But I understand the criticism. I know where I am."