Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez, has opened up on why he decided to stay on as Barcelona manager.
Xavi announced in January that he will be quitting as head coach in the summer, saying he would be walking away despite having a contract until 2025 at the Nou Camp.
However, in a dramatic u-turn on Wednesday, Xavi decided to continue with Barca, after meeting with the club’s president, Joan Laporta and other senior officials.
The former Spain midfielder has now given reasons for his decision to remain at the club.
“I changed my mind because I really felt total confidence from the president, from the board and the players too. This project isn’t finished yet.
“Me, my staff, all together feel that we have strength to make important things together and continue this project,” Xavi said.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti lauded Xavi’s choice to stay on as a “correct decision.”
“I think Xavi has done a good job at Barcelona,” Ancelotti told a news conference. “He knows the club very well and it seems to me to be the correct decision to stay.
Asked whether a person’s word matters more than a contract, Ancelotti said: “Well, well, well… What a question. Everything is important.”
“We have to respect that people can change their opinion. It’s not in writing. How many times have I changed my opinion in my career? It’s allowed.”
Ancelotti also responded to Barça president Joan Laporta’s claim that Madrid’s 3-2 victory in El Clásico on Sunday should be replayed if it is proven a VAR error led to Lamine Yamal’s goal not being awarded at the Bernabéu.
Yamal’s effort was scooped from the goalmouth by Madrid goalkeeper Andrey Lunin at 1-1 in the first half and with no goal-line technology in LaLiga, VAR ruled that the shot did not cross the line.
Asked if Laporta’s comments annoyed him, Ancelotti said: “No [it doesn’t annoy me]. We have such a good feeling at the moment that nothing going on around us affects us at all. We want to end this season fantastically and the things happening around us don’t impact us.”
Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner moved Madrid 11 points clear of Barça at the top of the table with just six games to play.
“I think everyone, us included, has seen those declarations [by Laporta],” Ancelotti said. “I don’t have anything to say. It’s their opinion. As we say in Italy, the wind takes words away.”
