Beyond the championship, the outcome of Sunday evening will also have a crucial impact on the face of the Blaugrana for next season. The Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo indeed suggests that a meeting will be held at the beginning of next week between Xavi and his leaders: president Joan Laporta, vice-president Rafa Yuste and sports director Deco. With only one point on the agenda: whether Xavi reverses his decision or not.
On January 27, the Barcelona coach announced his desire to retire at the end of the season. Except that the team's reaction in recent months seems to have changed the situation. New momentum has been found by Barça and President Laporta has already affirmed his wish to keep Xavi, who has a contract until June 2026. The coach will therefore have to position himself definitively in the coming days. Because if he reaffirms his wish to leave, the club will very quickly have to turn around to find a successor.
Champions League: UEFA fines FC Barcelona with 25,000 euros
Marquez, plan B
Deco's first research also seems to have been more complicated than expected. Most of the avenues envisaged (De Zerbi, Flick, Arteta, etc.) having quickly been stopped, the club would even today have turned instead to an internal option: Rafael Marquez. Currently at the head of the B team which plays in D3, the Mexican certainly has the ideal profile.
Highly appreciated by supporters, the former defender was one of the major pawns of Frank Rijkaard's great team which won the Champions League in 2006. He also has the DNA of the club and could follow in the lineage of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique or Xavi, players who became coaches. Last important asset: he knows the young people in the academy perfectly, thanks to his current role. However, we know the importance of La Masia in the development of the first team.
