Barcelona president retains total confidence in Xavi despite recent results | OneFootball

It has been a difficult past ten days or so for Barcelona as they have had to swallow some bitter pills on the football pitch.

It started with a disheartening 2-1 defeat to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season. Even though Barça dominated proceedings for the most part, they came up short on the evening.

This past weekend, the Blaugrana returned to winning ways beating Real Sociedad 1-0, but the performance was disappointing, to say the least, and they had to rely on a last-minute winner by Ronald Araujo to get all three points.

Amid rising questions over their performance, Barcelona put in another dour display last night as they fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League.

Xavi has the club’s backing

The pressure is high on Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez following the recent performances and results.

Despite that, though, SPORT is reporting that the 43-year-old club legend has the complete trust and confidence of president Joan Laporta and the rest of the board.

Xavi admitted a few days ago that a coach has to be ready for anything and that at Barça the demand is maximum, so results are the order of the day.

However, despite the poor performance in recent matches, there is no doubt about the coach’s work. Xavi has the full support of the club and this will be the case throughout the season.

The Blaugrana administration remain completely committed to Xavi and that is why the manager was rewarded with a new contract recently as well.

Under pressure. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Time to turn things around

It is clear that there is a sporting slump, but at Barça, they are clear that there is time to turn things around.

What counts is that they is practically qualified for the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and are four points behind Girona and two points behind Real Madrid in La Liga. The situation is worrying, but it is far from critical at this stage of the season.

The sports committee will analyse the team’s poor form with Xavi and try to find solutions. For everyone, the key is to maintain unity and show a clear message of support for the coach so that the squad has no doubt that the project is non-negotiable.

Xavi, for his part, is going to take measures, but it must be the players who step up because they have shown that they can play at a high level.