Just in: Barcelona decide against sacking Xavi after 3-5 loss against Villarreal

Barcelona hosted Villarreal at home today in a game that promised a lot to the neutrals. The last meeting between these sides ended 3-4 in favour of the Catalans, and a fair few amount of goals were expected today, too.

However, nobody quite expected the madness that unfolded.

Barcelona came back from 0-2 down to take the last 3-2 by the 71st minute courtesy of a goal each from Pedri, Ilkay Gundogan, and an own goal from Eric Bailly.

And just when the blaugranes thought they had a grip on the proceedings, Villarreal scored through Goncalo Guedes before a mistake from Ronald Araujo and Inaki Pena helped them take the lead. Jose Luis Morales eventually put the game to bed with a fifth.

Fans understandably wanted to put the coach’s head on a stick after this game, and the Barcelona board reportedly met for a meeting to discuss the club’s situation.

As per a report by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have, for now, decided against sacking Xavi. They do not have a clear replacement in mind, and want to hold out until the Champions League games against Napoli.

Barcelona Atletic’s Rafael Marquez was considered his replacement, but with the club still alive in the Champions League, the board does not want to change the dynamics of the team negatively by sacking the coach.

Further, the players have come out to defend Xavi, with Araujo leading the talks, saying, “When Xavi arrived, he had a team that was in the shambles. A team that had lost its DNA, that didn’t play with the philosophy. Xavi came and brought back the identity, the desire, what it means to represent this shirt.”

It remains to be seen what happens with Xavi by the end of the season, but the time is definitely running out.