Did Barcelona make a mistake? After 50 games in charge, Xavi is still struggling at Camp Nou

In many ways, Xavi’s 50th game in charge of Barcelona couldn’t have gone any worse. Just a few days after essentially being knocked out of the Champions League by Inter Milan, the former midfielder was forced to endure as his side were unceremoniously pulled apart by Real Madrid in a 3-1 defeat in the first El Clasico of the new season. 

Although the result in isolation wasn’t a disaster - since Barcelona are still only three points behind their rivals in the La Liga table - it did come at the worst possible time. Not only did it compound concerns over Xavi’s abilities, so soon after defeat in Europe, but it also underlined just how poor the young manager’s record has been since he took over the job as Barcelona manager from Ronaldo Koeman last season. 

Indeed, Sunday’s clash was Xavi’s eleventh defeat as Barcelona manager. Which, when coupled with 28 wins and 11 draws to make up his first 50 games in charge of the club, puts the 42-year-old manager’s win percentage at the club at just 56%. This, according to Pedro Martin, is the worst start for any manager at the Catalan club since Lorenzo Serra Ferrer in 2003 and notably behind Koeman, who was forced out of the club for poor performances, while coaching a poorer squad. 

And the unflattering comparisons don’t stop there. When we break Xavi’s record down to points won per game, it averages out at 1.90. Which is not only below Koeman’s average of 1.96 over the course of his 67 games in charge of the club, but it’s also the poorest return for a head coach at the club since Pep Guardiola departed the club in 2012. Since then six full-time managers have been in charge of the club and each has enjoyed more success than Xavi to date. 

Barcelona's spending spree - no return on investments yet

This, undoubtedly, is a disaster for the young manager and his club in its own right. But what makes it even worse is the fact that Barcelona have invested a huge amount of money in the novice tactician by means of signing some of the most talented players in the world since Xavi took over at the club late last year. 

For example, in the previous January transfer window the club kicked off Xavi’s reign by spending €55 million signing Ferran Torres from Manchester City, along with huge wages for free signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Then, to make matters worse, Barcelona spent €153m on new signings ahead of this season, bringing in the likes of Raphinha, Jules Koundé and Robert Lewandowski, while inflating the club’s wage bill with more free signings like Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen and Héctor Bellerín. Whether the club’s expensive acquisitions can turn things around for Xavi and help the young manager keep his job remains to be seen, but as things stand it doesn’t seem as though the Spanish giants have made the right calls on or off the pitch in some time. 

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