While Frenkie de Jong defends him, Xavi announces departure from Barca

FC Barcelona suffered yet another defeat under Xavi in La Liga. After 38 days without playing at home, Barcelona loses 3-5 to Villarreal and remains third in the league with 44 points. Barca now lost two games in a row and is in danger of not competing for the La Liga title this season.

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In a wild game of football, Barcelona was trailing 2-0 in the 55th minute. Gerard Moreno and Akhomach scored the first two goals for Villarreal. Gundogan scored the first for Barca in the 60th minute. Pedri scored in the 68th minute to make it 2-2, and three minutes later, Bailly's own goal from Villarreal gave Barca the lead. It all seemed like another crazy comeback for Barca, but it all went wrong after the 80th minute.

Three goals from Villarreal, courtesy of Guedes, Sorloth, and Morales, ended Barca's hope, and the Yellow Submarine team won 5-3 away from home. After the game, Frenkie De Jong defended Xavi and blamed himself and the players for the performance.

De Jong said, "It's the fault of us players. If the plan doesn't work on pitch, it's our fault, not only of the coach. Confidence in Xavi? Yes, full." Xavi spoke just after the game, saying, "I understand Frenkie de Jong’s words, and we are all being responsible, but I’m the most responsible. We made mistakes, but that penalty play conditions the game. Even the fourth referee tells me that it's a clear penalty."

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After an hour and 20 minutes after the game, Xavi tells the press he will leave FC Barcelona on June 30th

Xavi shocked the football world and announced that he was leaving Barcelona at the end of the season. Xavi says, "I will leave FC Barcelona on June 30. The situation needs to change, and as a Barcelona fan, I cannot allow this to continue. I made my decision to leave at the end of the season a few days ago, but now I have decided to announce it."

"As a culer, the best thing is to leave the club after June. I think that will help the dynamic change and I still think that we can have a very good season. I have to think about the club before myself. Everything will be calmer now, we can compete for the Champions League… at least with this decision you [the press] won’t kill me anymore. The club will improve with this decision”.