Barcelona players ignored Xavi's orders after sealing 2022-23 La Liga title against arch-rivals Espanyol
Xavi has revealed that he wanted Barcelona players to cut short their La Liga title-winning celebrations on Sunday night. He wanted to respect Espanyol, their derby rivals, after sealing the title at their stadium.
Barcelona players and staff were chased by Espanyol fans after their extended celebrations on the pitch. The manager was not seen in the videos, as he had made his way down the tunnel minutes after the final whistle.
However, the players ignored his orders and continued celebrations before they were chased into the tunnel. Speaking to the media after the game, Xavi revealed (via ESPN):
"I have told them to stop inside because I think it is enough. The celebration is normal, but it was respectful to go to the booth because we were not at home. I am rational. But emotions are difficult to control. We celebrated it not because we were in Espanyol's camp but for the title. We're not at home."
When quizzed about his players getting chased, he added:
"I haven't seen if anything else has happened, I've gone inside. We shouldn't give it more importance. We shouldn't create controversy. I thought it was time to go in. We have to celebrate it inside as a family. We haven't provoked anyone. We were celebrating a league that is very important to us."
The Blaugrana won 4-2 at Espanyol to seal the La Liga title.
Barcelona to discuss new contract with Xavi
Joan Laporta is delighted after Barcelona sealed the league title for the first time in four years. He believes this is the start of the Xavi era and told the media:
"We want this to be the start of more titles and to bring joy back to Barcelona fans. The players, Xavi, the coaching staff and in general the whole club have done an extraordinary job."
He went on to claim that the board will now sit down with Xavi over a new contract as they had promised. He added:
"We agreed to talk about it at the end of the season. I understand that there will be no problem because Xavi is a club man. Xavi was clear that he wanted to be the coach of Barça. Maybe more than me. It has a lot of points in common from Guardiola's era."
The Blaugrana next face Real Sociedad at home and are likely to continue the celebrations.