How Xavi Has Punished Underperforming FC Barcelona Stars For Recent Poor Results: Reports

Head coach Xavi Hernandez has punished his FC Barcelona stars for a string of unflattering performances as of late, according to AS.

Barca still top La Liga by 11 points but have failed to open up 15 point and 13 point leads over bitter rivals Real Madrid through back-to-back 0-0 draws at home to Girona on Easter Monday and away at Getafe the following Sunday.

The Spanish top flight stalemates are joined by last Thursday’s 4-0 defeat to Los Blancos, which was a worst El Clasico defeat at Camp Nou in 60 years brought about by a Vinicius Jr opener and Karim Benzema hat trick.

Furthermore, the overall 4-1 aggregate loss knocked Barca out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals in the second leg and ended hopes of a domestic treble.

With Barca on their worst run of scoreless games since April 2008 when Xavi was a player under a soon-to-be-fired Frank Rijkaard, the modern day head coach has punished his charges as reported by AS.

Whereas before Xavi rewarded his troops with extra days off according to the same Madrid-based newspaper, this time he has taken them away.

Xavi’s men enjoyed a free 72 hours overall last week, but this week they were only allowed Tuesday off with Sunday’s meeting against Atletico Madrid – the top form team in 2023 across Europe’s big five leagues – on the horizon.

Losing to Atleti would be a hammer blow for Barca and already usher in whispers of a potential collapse. Should a Real Madrid outfit on a high after reaching the Copa del Rey final and their 11th Champions League semi-final in 13 years beat Celta Vigo on Saturday, the lead would be reduced to just eight points.

Barca are stumbling at the worst possible time, but they could be buoyed by the likely returns of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong at the weekend as Ousmane Dembele may also earn his first minutes since January.

This hard line is the right approach from Xavi, who knows that the fans will not tolerate the domestic title slipping out of reach when it seemed to be pretty much wrapped up in March when Barca beat Real Madrid 2-1 in El Clasico.