Winner of Paris Saint-Germain, Wednesday evening, during the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League, FC Barcelona is more than ever in the race to reach the last four of the competition before welcoming the Rouge et Bleu to Montjuïc for the return leg. Before that, Robert Lewandowski's teammates will have to get rid of Cadiz on the 31st day of La Liga to stay in the title race. Alongside the sporting issues at the end of the season, another burning issue is agitating the Catalan backstage: Xavi's successor. As a reminder, the former Blaugrana midfielder recently announced his departure from the club at the end of the season. If the Catalan upper echelons have not lost hope of keeping him for one more season, many names have recently been mentioned to replace him.
From Jürgen Klopp to Thiago Motta via Rafael Marquez, Imanol Alguacil, Míchel, Roberto De Zerbi, Luis Enrique, Thomas Tuchel, Hansi Flick and even Julian Nagelsmann, the Catalan board seems to be spoiled for choice, or not. As the weeks go by, the tracks close one by one and Sport indicates, this Saturday, that the current second in the Spanish championship could experience a new blow in his frantic search. Listed among the potential candidates, Julian Nagelsmann is in fact moving further and further away from a future in Catalonia. Currently on the bench of the German selection, the former Bayern Munich technician had also suggested that he could continue the adventure with the Mannschaft after Euro 2024, while his contract ends next July.
Xavi gone to stay?
“It is not excluded, but it is not obvious. This has nothing to do with financial matters.”. For its part, the German Federation (DFB) has clearly expressed its intention to keep the native of Landsberg am Lech. “We need to talk to each other and I am confident that we will reach a result quickly. Nagelsmann wants to find a solution before the Euro and we will respect his wish., expressed the boss of the DFB, Bernd Neuendorf to the media ZDF. Despite everything and in view of the latest information revealed by Bild and taken up by Sporta return to Bavaria is more than ever on the table…
Thus, Nagelsmann would be one step away from returning to the Bayern Munich bench if he were to permanently leave the German national team at the end of the European Championship. Sources close to the principal concerned have also confided that he would not be against the idea of opening a second cycle with the Rekordmeister. Symbol of this strong rapprochement, Uli Hoeness, honorary president of the German club, publicly admitted that his dismissal “had been a mistake”. So many elements confirming an intense fight to come between the Bavarians and the DFB and where Barça should not have a say…
