Barcelona Squad Reacts to Xavi Hernandez's Departure
In the locker room, nobody saw the bombshell that the current Barça coach announced in the press conference after the defeat against Villarreal. There were even some who cried.
The home defeat against Villarreal (3-5) was a tough blow for Barcelona, but nothing compared to the shock that Xavi's announcement of his farewell at the end of the season would bring shortly after.
The Barça dressing room, already reeling from that heavy defeat at a time when things seemed to be turning around, did not see the bombshell that the still Barça coach dropped in a press conference coming.
The players knew nothing and found out at the same time as all the Blaugrana fans. The next day, Xavi, accompanied by president Joan Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste, and sports director Deco, explained his decision to the squad.
The squad was visibly affected by the speech of the still Barça coach, as revealed by Esport3. The same media outlet added that there were players, like Robert Lewandowski and Joao Concelo, who couldn't hold back their emotions.
In that same meeting, team captain Sergi Roberto apologized to Xavi on behalf of the players for the defeat suffered the day before against Villarreal and rallied his teammates to give their all until the end of the season.
As reported by the newspaper Sport, in the training session following the league defeat, there were players who approached Xavi to see if there was a possibility that the coach would reconsider his decision to leave, but the coach conveyed to them the same message as to the president, that his tenure as Barcelona coach ends on June 30th.
