Back in late January, Xavi Hernández announced that he will part ways with FC Barcelona at the end of the season.
His decision makes the upcoming ELCLASICO between the Catalan side and Real Madrid extra special, as the game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday, April 21st, will be his last rivalry match in charge of Los Blaugrana.
The former academy graduate and FC Barcelona captain returned to coach the team a few years after hanging up his boots. Now, he has the opportunity to bid farewell to his boyhood club by leading them to a victory away at their fierce rivals and keeping their slim title hopes alive.
From La Masia graduate to FC Barcelona's captain
Xavi joined the FC Barcelona academy in 1991 and climbed through the ranks before making his debut with the first team at the age of 18 under Louis van Gaal. The young midfielder celebrated his first LALIGA EA SPORTS trophy in 1998/99, when he started in 16 of the 17 league games he participated in. However, the next five seasons saw Barça struggle to compete for the domestic title, finishing fourth, fourth and sixth in 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03, respectively.
Frank Rijkaard took charge of the team in 2003/04, when FC Barcelona finished second, before a slow start in the next campaign saw them trail Real Madrid by as many as 18 points on Matchday 18. With a historic comeback in the second half of the season, LosBlaugrana miraculously overtook Los Blancos and finished second behind champions Valencia CF. Most importantly, FC Barcelona's comeback sent a message to all contenders that the Catalans were back and should be considered again as legitimate title contenders going forward.
The win that signalled Barça's return came on April 25th, 2004, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Real Madrid took the lead 15 minutes into the second through Santiago Solari, but Patrick Kluivert levelled the scores just before the hour mark. Both teams pushed for a second, with Ronaldinho producing one of his numerous extraordinary assists to tee up Xavi, who chipped the ball over Iker Casillas and into the back of the net. Xavi's goal was both a blow to Real Madrid's own title hopes and the signalling of a new era for FC Barcelona.
The rest is history, as academy products Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets would lead the team back to the pinnacle of European football. At FC Barcelona, Xavi won eight league titles, three Copa del Rey accolades and four Champions League trophies.
Meanwhile, only Busquets (48), Messi (45), Sergio Ramos (45) and Karim Benzema (43) have featured in more ELCLASICO duels than Xavi (42). The former FC Barcelona captain recorded 17 wins, 12 draws and 13 losses across all his ELCLASICO games during his playing career, scoring five goals and providing 10 assists in total.
Facing Real Madrid as a coach
After departing FC Barcelona in 2015, Xavi joined Al Sadd, where he plied his trade for four seasons before becoming the team's boss in 2019. A couple of years later, a struggling Barça knocked on his door, with Los Blaugrana searching for Ronald Koeman's successor. Xavi returned to FC Barcelona in November of 2021 and took part in his first ELCLASICO as a coach a couple of months later, when his team lost 3-2 in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
What followed was a dominant period for Xavi's FC Barcelona, with the Catalan side winning four of their next five ELCLASICO match-ups. The most emphatic victory came at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on March 20th, 2022, when Barça thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 as Xavi celebrated his first triumph as an FC Barcelona coach against Los Blancos. Curiously, none of Xavi's first five ELCLASICO duels in charge took place at the Spotify Camp Nou. In his first one on home soil, the FC Barcelona legend saw his team grab a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win courtesy of goals from Sergi Roberto and Franck Kessié on Matchday 26 of last season, a victory which virtually sealed that season's LALIGA EA SPORTS title. That was the last time Xavi celebrated a win over Real Madrid, who have won each of the last three meetings across all competitions.
In total, Xavi has four victories and five losses against Los Blancos, while none of the games he's been in charge of has ended in a draw. Two decades after that chipped winner over Casillas at the Bernabéu, almost exactly to the day, Xavi will return to Real Madrid's home ground in his bid to keep FC Barcelona's title hopes alive. A victory against their fierce rivals would be a huge boost to Barça's chances in the LALIGA EA SPORTS title race. More than anything, Xavi will hope his final visit to the Bernabéu with Los Blaugrana is a happy one.
