As Barcelona were sent tumbling out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, Xavi Hernandez could only watch from a box high up in the Estadio Lluis Companys.
That’s because the manager was red carded for the third time as manager of the Catalan club, this time for losing his temper with the fourth official and kicking some of the hoardings around the side of the pitch.
It evidenced the inability to keep his head once again when the pressure was on and the going was getting tough.
Xavi lost his head… again
Peerless as a midfielder for the club over two decades he may have been, but as a manager, he does leave a lot to be desired.
His substitutions in games – including this one – don’t often make sense, and his fuse has become very short since sitting on the bench.
No wonder he wants to take a breather at the end of this season.
Against PSG, things started so well for the home side and when Raphinha scored, the Catalans held a two-goal advantage in the tie.
From that seemingly unassailable lead in the tie, particularly given how well the hosts were controlling it at that point, Ronald Araujo’s red card changed everything.
Where Xavi was wrong was in taking Lamine Yamal off in order to bring Inigo Martinez on. It had to be another player to come off because the 16-year-old had shown what a threat he was down the right.
Right then was when the game was lost for the home side.
With no Lamine to run rings around the visitor’s defence, Barcelona were moribund as an attacking force.
?? Xavi: “It’s pointless to discuss about the game… the referee destroyed it all”.
“We can’t stay silent. He changed the game and the entire tie. It was a disaster”. pic.twitter.com/S5jhWtbjLB
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 16, 2024
It’s all very well for Xavi to come out after the match and blame the performance of the referee as the main reason why Barcelona didn’t qualify, but perhaps he should look inwards before doing the same again in future.
