Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez stressed how much he loves the Catalan club, noting that it hurt him a lot in his last experience at Camp Nou.
Since Xavi left coaching the Blaugrana at the end of last season, he has never spoken, but now he came out via France Football magazine in a long interview during which he touched on his career as a player and a coach.
When asked about Barcelona, he replied, “Barcelona is not just a club for me, it is closer to being a religion.”
Regarding his experience as a coach, he said, “I admit that I made some mistakes as a coach at Barcelona, we were greatly affected by the departure of Sergio Busquets, it made us rethink our approach, but things did not go as hoped.”
He continued, “The expectations around me at Barcelona were very high because of my history as a player, this was usually against me, I was very emotional, but it was an experience that was a real lesson for me.”
“If you saw how Barcelona was before I arrived, I would clearly say that my experience and that of my technical staff was very successful. The club was in one of its worst periods in history,” he added.
As for his future, Xavi said, “I want to return to coaching. I want to win the Champions League, the Euros and the World Cup. I am open to everything. I might also coach in La Liga. Why not coach a national team? Now I am just looking for the right project.”
It is worth noting that Xavi announced at the end of his time at Barcelona that he would be taking a year off, and in recent months he has been linked to more than one club, most notably Manchester United and Juventus.
