FC Barcelona have advanced to the knock-out rounds of the UEFA Champions League after a gap of two years. But still, the team’s performances leave a lot to be desired, especially keeping in view the highly manageable opponents they got in their group.
The loss against Royal Antwerp has put Xavi’s in hot waters, as Spanish media is abuzz with reports of the club not being too happy with the head coach’s performances.
Xavi has already proven himself with the Spanish Supercup and La Liga triumphs during the last season. However, he still has to show his mettle in the Champions League, and as stats compiled by SPORT show, his performances in the top European competition have not been highly enviable.
The stats show that in the fourteen Champions League games that Xavi has overseen, he has as many wins as losses (6), and another two draws, with a win percentage of 43%.
Furthermore, if Europa League matches are also added to the mix, Xavi’s winning percentage drops to 36.36%, as he has eight wins, eight losses, and six draws.
Going back to Pep Guardiola’s first Barcelona season of 2008-09, only one Barcelona coach, Quique Setien, has a record worse than that of Xavi. In the second half of the 2019-20 season, Setien had one win, one loss, and one draw in the Champions League. Thus, his winning percentage lay at 33.33%.
Luis Enrique was the coach with the best record in Europe, as he won 24 of his 33 matches, thus getting a winning rate of 72.7%. The legendary Pep Guardiola won 59.6% of his games in the Champions League, as he won 31 of 52 total games.
Ernesto Valverde had a better-winning percentage than Guardiola, 64.3%, but he was unable to win the Champions League title with Barcelona.
Other coaches like Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino, and Ronald Koeman all have better statistics than Xavi in the premier European competition. Vilanova has the same winning percentage as Xavi, but suffered fewer defeats than the current Barcelona manager.
