January 27, 2024 will be remembered in the club’s annals for Xavi Hernández’s announcement of his resignation of the remaining year of his contract, after the team lost resoundingly at home against Villarreal (3-5). An announcement that came with the final tagline of the absolute conviction on the part of the coach that, from that moment on, the team was going to react. More than one gave up on Xavi’s project, incredulous that the squad could lift the slab of bad play and bad results, with the team eleven points behind the leader, at that time Girona, and with the Champions League round of 16 against Napoli just around the corner.
Well, two and a half months later, and after playing twelve games, the reaction has not only been a fact, but is on the way to blowing up the expectations of the season. In those dozen games, Xavi’s Barcelona has been able to cut a whopping thirteen points from Girona, placing them second in the table, with only Real Madrid, the current leader, withstanding the Blaugrana’s pull. And Barcelona has added 23 of a possible 27 points, two more than Real Madrid, which in these last nine games has added 21 points.
This reaction evident in LaLiga has also been carried over into the Champions League, with the elimination of Naples in the round of 16 – first leg (1-1) and second leg (3-1) – and against PSG in the quarterfinals, by recording a new victory ( 2-3).
In total, nine wins and three draws, which have served to feed the hopes and illusions of a fan base deprived of success this season. Despite everything, this streak is not Xavi’s best, not even this season, where he was able to string together thirteen games without losing – ten wins and three draws – at the beginning of the season. And the current Blaugrana coach has an unbeaten streak of 18 games, with a balance of fifteen wins and three draws, which he signed last year.
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To reach this record, Madrid at the Bernabéu. If he achieves it, he will still have the games against Valencia, the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Borussia or Atlético, and the visit to Montilivi. Without a doubt, a major challenge for a team that at the beginning of this year seemed hopeless for all intents and purposes.
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2024-04-12 16:54:35
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