A day after Jurgen Klopp's shock announcement of his impending departure from Liverpool, it was revealed another European heavyweight would need a new coach for next season.
Following a humbling 3-5 defeat to LaLiga strugglers Villarreal on Saturday, Xavi confirmed he would be quitting his post at Barcelona at the end of the campaign.
Xavi's decision came just four months after he agreed to extend his contract with the Blaugrana until 2025.
While Xavi has pointed to media criticism and Barca's financial struggles as the reasons for walking away, his team - the reigning LaLiga champions - have slipped off dramatically this season.
In recent weeks, Barca have been hammered by Real Madrid in the final of the Supercopa de Espana, and lost to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey, while their hopes of retaining the league title are growing increasingly slim.
But where has it all gone wrong?
2022-23: Two trophies but European failure
After a second-placed finish in 2021-22, Barca recruited heavily for Xavi's first full season in charge, despite their financial difficulties, as they looked to usher in success in the post-Lionel Messi era.
Robert Lewandowski arrived from Bayern Munich, with Barca spending €45million on a soon-to-be 34-year-old to rejuvenate their attack. Raphinha and Joules Kounde also signed in big-money moves, with Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin, Marcos Alonso and Franck Kessie joining on free transfers.
Ultimately, their business paid off. Barca won LaLiga at a canter, finishing 10 points clear of Madrid, while also defeating Los Blancos in the Supercopa de Espana final.
Xavi's success was built on a rock-solid defence: Barca conceded only 20 goals in LaLiga, 13 fewer than any other side, at an average of 0.5 per game. Their expected goals against (xGA) of 33.9 was also the second-lowest in the division, with only Real Sociedad (33.3) managing a lower total. However, that overperformance of 13.9 also suggested that defensive solidity may not have been sustainable.
That being said, Barca only faced 331 shots across 38 league matches – 8.7 per game on average – again, the lowest tally in LaLiga. They faced 56 shots fewer than any other side (Celta Vigo – 387), while they allowed 91 less than Real Madrid (422). The Blaugrana also faced fewer shots on target (109) than any other team in Spain's top tier.
Going the other way, only Madrid (75), scored more goals in LaLiga last season than Barca (70), though Xavi’s team did underperform their xG (77) despite having Lewandowski in fine form. The Poland international netted 23 goals from a non-penalty xG of 23.8, with an impressive shot conversion rate of 17 per cent.
Yet in Europe, Barca could not get going. They lost three of their six group-stage matches, only managing to win against Viktoria Plzen (home and away), as their inadequacies were shown up by Bayern Munich and Inter. The Blaugrana could not even secure a Europa League place as consolidation, as they lost 4-3 to Manchester United over a two-legged play-off.
2023-24: Misfiring in attack and underperforming at the back
So, where has it gone wrong this season? Well, rather than conceding fewer goals than they should have done, Barca are now conceding more than they ought to have done based on the quality of shots they have faced and opportunities they have given up.
Barca have shipped 29 goals from their 21 LaLiga matches – only seven sides in the competition have conceded more goals so far this term. They are averaging 1.3 goals against per match.
Yet their 23.6 xGA is the third-lowest in LaLiga – essentially, Barca have conceded five goals more than would have been anticipated based on the quality of opportunities their opponents have created.
Barca have only faced 225 shots, which is a total bettered by only Madrid (217) and Valencia (212). However, their average of 10.7 shots conceded per game is already two higher than it was over the entirety of last season.
At the other end, Xavi's side have mustered the highest xG in the top flight (49), yet they have only managed 43 goals. That is still the third-highest total in LaLiga, but it is a clear and sizeable underperformance.
Even the ever-reliable Lewandowski has suffered. Now 35, he has scored six non-penalty goals from a non-penalty xG of 10.3, while his shot conversion rate has dropped to 13.3 per cent.
All in all, it could be far worse, and Barca have also been hit by injuries to the likes of Pedri and Gavi.
Bad fortune and poor finishing are part of the problem, but ultimately, it is a coach's job to fix it. Xavi looks to be running out of ideas, so calling it quits was perhaps inevitable.
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Dundee 1-2 Celtic: Forrest brace restores Hoops' three-point lead at SPL summit
James Forrest scored twice as Celtic regained their three-point cushion at the Scottish Premiership summit with a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee.
Rangers had applied the pressure earlier in the day with a 2-1 win at St Mirren, moving Philippe Clement's side level on points with the Hoops.
Although, Celtic did not twitch with Forrest volleying them ahead on the half-hour mark, before doubling their lead in the 67th minute.
Antonio Portales pulled a goal back for Dundee seven minutes later with his first league strike of the season, but the visitors held on to pull clear at the top once more with five games remaining.
Data debrief
Returning to the starting line-up today, Forrest's double separated the sides as he found the net more than once in a game for the first time since scoring a hat-trick against Hibernian in October 2022.
Celtic have now won their last 10 league matches against Dundee and are unbeaten in 43 meetings overall since a 2-0 defeat in May 2001, only enjoying a longer such streak against Dumbarton (50).
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