Barcelona president Joan Laporta has spoken out in the wake of Xavi’s decision to step down from his role as first-team coach at the end of the season.
The club chief says he accept Xavi’s decision to go and knows he will give the job everything he has between now and the end of the campaign.
“Xavi informed me that he would leave at the end of the season. He wanted to finish the season and it’s a formula that I accept because it was Xavi who proposed it to me. And he is a Barça legend. He is an honest person; he acts with complete dignity; and he is a person who loves Barça,” he said.
“We have to give everything we have to try to win the Champions League. We are in the next round against Napoli, and we are going step by step, and I think that, with commitment, with more character, without losing concentration, with the coach giving everything that I know he will, and with the players fully committed, we will be able to achieve some of the goals we have set for ourselves at the end of the season.
“This is a complicated season. We already knew that we had to go to Montjuïc. We will return to Spotify Camp Nou at the end of this year if there are no unforeseen issues. In principle, everything is going according to plan.”
Barcelona are back in action on Wednesday against Osasuna. Xavi will be eager for his side to get back to winning ways after defeats to Athletic and Villarreal.
