When Xavi Hernández arrived on the bench of FC Barcelona, just over three weeks ago, accumulated a streak of eleven consecutive games undefeated with Al Sadd, nine wins and two draws. At the Blaugrana club, he also began chaining three more games unbeaten, with two wins and a draw, so he had already accumulated fourteen consecutive games without losing before Betis’ visit to the Camp Nou. We had to go back to last April 29, when Al Sadd lost (1-2) in the last day of the Asian Champions League against Saudi Al Nassr to see the last defeat of the Egarense coach.
However, this impressive streak, which has lasted for more than seven months, It has been definitively truncated this Saturday, after the defeat at home against Betis de Pellegrini. An unfair result, but what clearly reflects problems heading into goal that the current Blaugrana squad has, with many forwards in the infirmary.
Thus, 189 days later, Xavi once again suffers the troubles of a defeat as a coach. AND He does it precisely at a very critical moment of the season: with the team on the verge of a vital match in the Champions League, where everything that is not winning in Munich against Bayern, It could complicate, and a lot, the classification for the round of 16, and with the rope around the neck also in LaLiga, by distancing itself 16 points behind the current leader in the standings, Real Madrid.
In any case, the president Joan Laporta has not brought Xavi with a short-term mentality but to build a winning project in the medium term. But that does not mean that he is satisfied with turning the page this season, but that the objective is to win a title, since in Barcelona there is never a transition year.
Obviously both the Champions League and LaLiga seem very complicated objectives today, but Xavi’s roadmap is to turn a totally evicted team into a competitive one at all levels. And that is the first objective to build a recognizable and champion team. As a Chinese proverb says: a long walk always begins with a small step. Xavi has four steps in his new career, two have been long stride (Espanyol and Villarreal), another medium (Benfica) and the last shorter (Betis).