It was shortly after Vitinha put visitors Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 ahead that evening that Xavi really lost his way.
The aggregate score in the Champions League quarter-finals was still tied with more than half an hour remaining in the 90 minutes, but Ronald Araujo had been sent off and former Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembélé had already appeared to provoke damage, hurting both his previous player. club and the coach who knew how to get the best out of him before his dramatic departure for PSG last summer.
On Tuesday night, Dembélé thrived in what must have been the most tense atmosphere he has faced. After being taken off late, his smile on the sidelines as he watched his new team score for the fourth time in the match spoke volumes.
It wouldn’t seem like Xavi has thrived. His red card in the 56th minute showed that – although there was still plenty of drama to come.
After the match, Dembélé posed on the pitch with the player of the match title which had been awarded to him. Next to him was Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who came down from the VIP seats after the final whistle to celebrate with his team. The PSG president, protected by several security agents, was the target of objects thrown from the stands as he hugged Kylian Mbappé, scorer of a double in a 4-1 victory that propelled the French team in the semi-final, winner 6-4. overall.
By then, Xavi had also returned to the pitch from the stands. He has now been sent off three times this season – as a player he has only been dismissed twice in his 17 years at Barca.
The 44-year-old’s latest dismissal came after he kicked a board protecting the television cameraman placed between him and counterpart Luis Enrique as he protested a foul on a Frenkie challenge from Jong on Dembélé.
In his post-match press conference, the Barcelona coach explained that he had returned to speak with the officials: “I just told the referee he was a disaster. It’s reality.
Xavi’s anger doesn’t stop there. According to sources present in the stadium tunnel, he was still agitated on the way to the dressing room after his red card and shouted Vitinha’s name loudly while continuing to complain. In the first leg, Xavi felt the PSG midfielder could have received a second yellow card for a foul that stopped a Barça counter.
“I will try to speak in a calmer way,” he also said in his post-match press conference.
“I think at this level, playing 11 against 10 is almost impossible. Araujo’s red card was unnecessary. It just killed the tie. It was an incredible match between two teams going against each other. But then the ruling made that impossible.
Ilkay Gundogan consoles Raphinha after the final whistle (Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Unlike his manager, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan spoke to the media in the “brutal honesty mode” already seen after Barcelona’s home defeat to Real Madrid in the La Liga Clasico in October. He pointed out the Catalan team’s own mistakes and detached referee Istvan Kovacs from the draw result.
“We were in such a good position after the first goal that we scored (to lead 4-2 on aggregate),” the Germany international said. “Everything was in our hands. We just gave it to PSG in the simplest way, and that’s the most disappointing part.
“If Araujo fouled (Bradley) Barcola, I guess it’s a red card. I haven’t seen the replay yet so I don’t know if he got the ball, but it’s hard to say. In these crucial moments, you have to be sure to recover the ball. If you don’t understand, you should stay away.
“Of course I would have preferred to concede a goal there, or give the striker a one-on-one against (goalkeeper Marc-André) Ter Stegen. Cutting back to 10 men with so much time to play killed us.
Ter Stegen said the same thing in the mixed zone.
“I don’t want to say it was a mistake by Araujo because he was chasing the ball,” he said. “But if the referee gives the foul there, then it’s a red card. This moment changed everything for us.
Araujo himself took a long time to leave the field when he was sent off, finally doing so only after complaining bitterly to Kovacs and making a hand gesture that signaled a theft. But as the hours went by, sources close to the central defender explained that he was as self-critical as he could be.
The 25-year-old Uruguay international privately acknowledged his share of responsibility in the match and shouldered it maturely, they said, adding that nothing hurt him more than making a mistake that had an impact on his teammates, especially in a key play.
Xavi and Araujo weren’t the only ones sent off: Barça’s goalkeeping coach, José Ramon de la Fuente, also saw red after bursting into complaint on the sidelines. Araujo wasn’t the only one to make a telling error either: Joao Cancelo’s reckless challenge on Dembele in the box allowed Mbappe to give PSG the aggregate advantage from the penalty spot in the 61st minute. Xavi called what Cancelo did a “huge mistake”.
Araujo’s challenge on Barcola in the first half (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
All the drama and bad decisions stood in stark contrast to PSG’s composure. “After the first leg (which Barca won 3-2), I said we have to trust the team. We have an exceptional manager who I believe in a lot. I think Luis Enrique is the best in the team. world,” Al-Khelaifi said.
A good number of Barca fans left their seats and headed home when Mbappe scored PSG’s fourth goal in the 89th minute – moments after Robert Lewandowski had a good chance to level the score at 5-5 in total.
But it was significant that a much larger percentage of the crowd stayed to recognize the efforts made by the home players.
That sums up why, despite the turmoil and turmoil, Tuesday’s defeat to the French champions and runaway league leaders should not be seen as another European trauma for Barca.
It was a match that made Barcelona fans feel like they were part of football’s biggest stage again, for the first time in years. The excitement around town on Tuesday was reflected in the best attendance of the season at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, their temporary home while the Camp Nou undergoes major renovations — 50,311.
Barca haven’t experienced something like this in ages, despite winning the 2022-23 La Liga title, and they have something to build on starting next season.
Of course, there were failures, but it was not a capitulation. It wasn’t Roma in 2018, nor Anfield in 2019, nor the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the quarter-final first leg in 2020. Last night’s defeat was not defined by the attitude of the ‘team.
Xavi has been sent off three times this season (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
This attitude will be put to the test again very soon, as on Sunday they play Real Madrid in La Liga. Their Clasico rivals are already eight points clear of them at the top of the table with seven matches remaining.
It’s clear why this week was highlighted as a key week that would define Barcelona’s immediate future, on and off the pitch.
We now know they won’t win any more Champions League prizes, and we also know they won’t qualify for the inaugural expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States in the summer of 2025 – which should be worth €. 50 million (£42.6 million; $53.2 million at current rates) each to those competing.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty on the sporting side. Xavi said he had no meetings scheduled with the club’s board after this week to plan for the future, insisting he was still determined to leave at the end of the season – even after that his predecessor and last night’s counterpart, Luis Enrique, said he remained the best man for the job.
“I think Xavi is the perfect manager for this Barcelona, so I hope he stays at the club for the coming seasons,” said the PSG coach.
Xavi was asked about his own thoughts.
“If I agree with him to stay here for many more years? Easy. I don’t agree with that,” he replied.
(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)