Barcelona president Joan Laporta says he won’t fire Xavi before end of season

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been talking about Xavi and says he never considered sacking his first-team coach.

Xavi has announced he will step down at the end of the season, and Laporta added that he won’t fire his manager before the end of the season no matter what happens

“I thought Xavi’s decision was just in heat of the defeat, but I listened to him and realised that he had given it a lot of thought,” he said.

“He spoke with a lot of conviction. He said he would step down at the end of the season and give up the remaining year on his contract. I told him if we had to fight for him to stay on, we would.

“I only accepted the proposal because it’s him. I never thought of firing him. I want him to stay until the end of the season. I’m not going to fire him whatever happens. He doesn’t deserve that. He deserves our backing.

“We’re going to fight in LaLiga and the Champions League. We have a competitive squad that can beat anyone. It’s a squad to be doing better than it is, but there are other circumstances to consider, such as the injuries we have had.”

Source | RAC1

Before confirming he would step down, Xavi had come under pressure after seeing his team lose ground in the title race and be knocked out of the Copa del Rey.

The midweek win over Osasuna will have restored some confidence ahead of a big month which sees Barcelona return to Champions League action against Napoli.