FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with Xavi Hernández for him to become first team coach for the rest of the current season and two more seasons. Xavi Hernández, a youth team product at Barça, has left his current club, Al-Sadd of Qatar, after talks held over the last few days with the owners of the club.
It is expected that Xavi Hernández will arrive in Barcelona this weekend and that on Monday 8 November his presentation as new FC Barcelona first team coach will take place in an event open to the public at Camp Nou. After the event Xavi Hernández will appear in a press conference in the Ricard Maxenchs press room.
Shortly we will detail the agenda for the presentation of Xavi Hernández as the new coach of the first team.
Barça legend: 767 games and 25 titles
Xavi is an absolute legend at FC Barcelona. His 767 appearances for the senior team were a record until he was surpassed recently by Leo Messi (778). In his 17 years in the first team (1998 to 2015), he won 25 major trophies:
Liga: 8 (1998/99, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2012/13 & 2014/15)
Champions League: 4 (2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11 & 2014/15)
Copa del Rey: 3 (2008/09, 2011/12 & 2014/15)
Club World Cup: 2 (2009/10 & 2011/12)
European Super Cups: 2 (2009/10 & 2011/12)
Spanish Super Cups: 6 (2005/06, 2006/07, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12 & 2013/14).
A life in blaugrana
However, in total he was at the club for 24 years, beginning as an U12 in 1991/92. One of the greatest midfield maestros of all time, he helped redefine the art with his creative mind, pinpoint passing and sublime ability to read the game. The utter brains of the team, he made up for his lack of physical might with extraordinary wits, superb skills and an extraordinary talent for governing everything that went on in the middle of the park.
Louis van Gaal gave Xavi his first team debut in 1998, and he immediately secured a regular place in the starting XI. It was under Frank Rijkaard from 2003 that he truly exploded, and under Pep Guardiola from 2008 he became regarded as one of the greatest players ever to grace the game.
After Carles Puyol retired, he assumed the captaincy, and eventually departed the club in 2015. Six years later, and he is back, this time as coach, where some of his charges are former playing colleagues: Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba and Ter Stegen.
Coaching experience
Xavi played out the final years of his career at Al-Sadd in Qatar, and after hanging up his boots in 2019, he became the team coach. He’d only been in the position for a few months when he won the Qatari Super Cup, and also led the team to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.
In total, he coached the team to seven different trophies, three of them in 2021.
