Xavi as Barcelona’s salvation? In fact, he has a worse record than his predecessor Koeman

Xavi came to the Barcelona bench as a club legend to lift the team’s stagnant performances. Fans are enthusiastic about his tenure, but statistically he has a worse record than his predecessor Ronald Koeman.

Xavi became the coach of Barcelona in November last year. His predecessor, Ronald Koeman, had his neck broken by the loss in El Clásico and the subsequent defeat to Rayo Vallecano. Combined with lacklustre results, the club’s management had no choice but to make a change in the coaching position.

It can be said that Xavi has really elevated the team’s game. Moreover, he has incorporated more youngsters into the squad, which will benefit the Catalan club in the future.

With better performances have come better results, and Barcelona are currently second in La Liga. Considering that the fans were initially worried about whether their team would even qualify for the Champions League, they are looking good on their current position. This is even though their first rival is Real Madrid.

Although everything seems ideal, it is true that statistically Ronald Koeman has had a better start in his tenure. He has recorded 21 wins, 6 draws and 5 defeats from his opening 32 games.

Xavi is a bit worse off. From the same number of duels, he enjoyed victory in 17 cases, but he scored 7 more draws and 8 losses. But there are several reasons for this.

One of them is that Xavi took over a team in total disarray, then rejuvenated the squad considerably during his tenure. And the main reason? Xavi can’t rely on Lionel Messi. The Argentine striker has saved the team on several occasions with a goal in the last minutes or a successful action from which his teammates then scored an important goal.

Even if Xavi is doing worse in comparison, the fans are rightly satisfied. However, Barcelona still has a long way to go to get closer to where it was a few years ago when it ruled Europe.

Source: Sky Sport, Tribuna