“It would be an honor to manage the club of my life again someday” - Xavi signals desire to return to Barcelona
Xavi Hernandez expressed his desire to return to Barcelona after taking charge of his final game as the club's manager on Sunday, May 26. The Blaugrana beat Sevilla 2-1 away in La Liga in their final match of the season.
Barca are set to part ways with Xavi as manager, with Hansi Flick reportedly set to take over. The Spaniard had announced in January that he would leave the club at the end of the season. He then reversed his decision last month after pressure from fans and club president Joan Laporta before the latter sacked him recently.
After the Sevilla clash, Xavi reflected on his time as Barcelona manager and his relationship with the players. He said in the post-match press conference (via Barca Universal):
"Our relationship with the players is marvelous. That will be our legacy. I’m proud of our work. It was a true honor to manage the club of my life.”
Speaking about the young players coming up at the club, Xavi said:
"There’s a very good generation of players coming up. We trusted them since the start, that’s the best legacy we can leave at the club. We helped the young generation become better players."
Xavi finally said that he wanted to continue and would love to return one day as the manager, saying:
"Looking back at it, we suffered, but we also enjoyed. It was a true roller coaster of emotions. I’m proud of my work, and I wanted to continue. I’m happy because I know that the fans appreciate the work that we did at the club.
"It would be an honor to manage the club of my life again someday.”
Hansi Flick has been touted to take over from Xavi as Barcelona's manager this summer.
Barcelona end the season with a 2-1 win over Sevilla
The Blaugrana came into the game with nothing riding on it as they had already secured second place in La Liga, behind leaders Real Madrid. They started brightly at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium and took the lead in the 15th minute through Robert Lewandowski.
Sevilla created multiple opportunities in their pursuit of an equalizer and got it in the 31st minute through Youssef En-Nesyri. Fermin Lopez then scored an excellent goal for Barcelona in the 59th minute to make it 2-1. Both sides hit the woodwork but were unable to add to the scoring.
Sevilla had 15 attempts on goal with six being on target while Barcelona had 6/11 attempts on target with 61% possession as well. The Blaugrana, however, ended the season without a trophy. Sevilla, meanwhile, finished in 14th place after battling relegation for most of the season.