Xavi’s tiki-taka vision thrills Camp Nou — but can it last?

Barcelona has climbed from ninth to fourth under the former midfield maestro, who has emphasised a return to the club’s celebrated playing style. But already under severe financial pressure, Barca can’t afford to miss out on Champions League football

Barcelona seemed a club both broken and heart-broken after talisman Lionel Messi’s departure last year, and so it was no surprise that news of Xavi Hernandez’s return, after 2,373 days away, was accompanied by waves of relief and euphoria in Catalonia’s capital city.

Both icon and ideologue, the midfield maestro was one of the driving forces behind Barcelona’s celebrated playing style and spectacular success between 2004 and 2015, when it won an incredible seven LaLiga titles and four Champions League trophies. His appointment as coach was confirmed last November, at the start of the international break. The crackle of excitement that preceded his unveiling was electric.

Xavi was the first Barcelona coach to be presented on the pitch in front of fans at the 99,000-capacity Camp Nou stadium, with the routine usually reserved for the club’s biggest signings. His attempts to thank the crowd were thwarted by the sound of them chanting his name.

“I am very excited,” he told the fans. “We are the best club in the world and we will work hard to be successful. Barca can’t be satisfied with draws or losses. We have to win every match.” He said he was moved by the welcome and chanted along with the crowd. “We need you,” Xavi told the fans. “Especially during the bad moments. We are in a difficult situation as a club. We need you more than ever.”

Xavi did not undersell the level of difficulty. Barcelona had slid down the ranks of the elite and was in unfamiliar territory. When the 42-year-old took over from Ronald Koeman, the club was ninth, six points adrift of the fourth and final Champions League spot. It had conceded more goals than Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano, both of whom had just come up from the second division. It had won none of its four previous league games, and Xavi’s first priority was — and remains — a top-four finish to ensure the financial security of Champions League football.

A quick-fix option had seemed remote, with the club still desperately trying to reduce record debts of more than a billion euros. The official club line was that “as it stands, there is nothing left” for signings in the January transfer window. Dismay at the club’s decline and Messi’s departure hung heavy around Camp Nou.

Understandably, the supporters were desperate for even the smallest sign of a revival. So it wasn’t startling that something as momentous as Xavi’s recruitment raised hopes that the club would begin a return to Europe’s elite. Several observers of Spanish football agreed that Xavi’s return would reignite the spark, through nostalgia and hope, if nothing else — but cautioned supporters to keep their expectations low.