Crucial Hours at Joan Gamper: Xavi Addresses Players After Shocking Announcement

The Joan Gamper sports city is witnessing crucial hours for the future of FC Barcelona this Sunday. A day after Xavi Hernandez announced in a press conference that he will no longer be the coach of FC Barcelona starting June 30, the sports council, featuring key figures of the club, gathers at the Joan Gamper facilities, where the team is training as usual. The team had a recovery session scheduled for eleven after the match, and before it began, Coach Xavi from Terrassa wanted to have a talk with the players to explain his decision.

All FC Barcelona players have been arriving in their cars at the sports city. One of the first to arrive was Xavi himself, who is talking to all of them to explain the reasons for his announcement and his departure at the end of the season. It’s worth noting that Xavi made this announcement in the press conference after the Barcelona 3-5 Villarreal match and had not communicated the decision to the players beforehand. He did inform Laporta, with whom he held a meeting after the match to inform him of the announcement and the decision made. Laporta, as reported by Sique Rodríguez, suggested to Xavi that they go out together to face the media, but the coach refused, ending up accompanied only by his brother and his wife while Laporta left Montjuic.

Other significant names from the club’s leadership, such as Deco and Enric Masip, who arrived with the president, as well as Rafa Yuste, Barça’s sports vice president, and Bojan Krkic, have also appeared at the club’s facilities. Xavi reportedly spoke with the players before training, and after the session, Laporta joined the meeting between the coach and the players. In total, Laporta spent about two and a half hours at the sports city and left when the players were already leaving after training.