Report: Barcelona board believes only a trophy will convince Xavi Hernández to stay next season

Barcelona’s decision-makers are preparing to hire a new manager next summer after Xavi Hernández’s announcement of his plan to step down as first team head coach at the end of the season, but the improvement in form and results in the last two months has created some hope within the board that the legendary midfielder will reverse his decision and stay at the club for one more season.

But Joan Laporta and his associates know that only a miracle end to the campaign will be enough to change Xavi’s mind. That’s according to the ever reliable Fernando Polo of Mundo Deportivo, who reports that the Blaugrana directors believe only a trophy will give Xavi enough cause for pause and ultimately lead to a change in his plans.

Winning a trophy in the final two months of the season is a daunting task, however. First there’s La Liga, where Barça currently sit second eight points behind leaders Real Madrid. Barça visit the Santiago Bernabéu next month and could give themselves a real chance to make a miracle comeback to defend their league crown if they win El Clásico, but they would still need Madrid to lose at least two more games to complete a run to the domestic championship.

That leaves the Champions League as the least unrealistic of the two options, since Barça are just four games away from Wembley Stadium and have been drawn into the easier of the two paths to the title game. If they get past Kylian Mbappé and Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals they would face either Atlético Madrid or Borussia Dortmund in the semis, avoiding every other favorite in the European Cup until a potential Final against one of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Arsenal.

Every Barça fan is dreaming of an unlikely Champions League title this season, and it’s very clear that the board is dreaming of it too so they can convince Xavi to stay.