Having taken over from a highly divisive Ronald Koeman, Xavi has endured a difficult start to his career as a manager at Camp Nou. In his first season in charge, Real Madrid won the league title rather convincingly, while FC Barcelona were still struggling with their squad rebuilding and bringing financial stability to the club.
However, things have improved rapidly with Barcelona, and they are once again providing glimpses of their top-level football, that helped the Catalan club dominate European football for almost a decade.
This resurgence is most evident in La Liga, where Barcelona led by Xavi Hernández is going at a record-breaking speed. The last La Liga match saw Barcelona edge out Girona 1-0, which meant Barcelona had 47 points, 5 clear over Real Madrid who lost further ground due to their 0-0 draw with third-placed Real Sociedad last night at Santiago Bernabéu.
Furthermore, Barcelona’s league form means that the club can go on in this campaign to best their previous league record of 100 points set under Tito Vilanova in the 2012-13 season. Barcelona went on to win the title that season, despite being in competition with a highly efficient Jose Mourinho Real Madrid team.
The first challenge in this quest for a new record comes in the form of Real Betis, whom the Blaugrana will be facing in their next league tie. A win over Betis will provide Barcelona with 50 points, with exactly one-half of the league matches for this campaign having been played.
Still, reaching such a figure is easier imagined than done, as Barcelona will be without their most in-form winger in Ousmane Dembele, and all the squad players would have to give their all in order to win the league title and set new records under club legend Xavi Hernández.