The Clásico at the “Santiago Bernabeu” was already 4-0 when Xavi approached Frankie de Jong about a bad pass. At 4:0. At the Santiago Bernabeu. His Barcelona isn’t the perfect machine he was set on as a footballer, but as a coach he has demands and a bar. After the first 133 days at the top, everyone noticed how high they were setting themselves.

The 42-year-old manager is the third to sit on the bench this year but the first to raise expectations for something good. Ronald Koeman has been ‘burnt out’ since last season and his whereabouts until October 29 surprised Juan Laporta. Al Sadd and Barcelona B manager receives permanent first-team promotion.

Xavi finally took over on November 8 in a presentation reminiscent of a Golden Ball-level transfer announcement and since then he’s slowly but surely begun to get a handle on the team he wanted to build.

Xavi’s changes

The big concern of recent years at Barcelona has to do with the removal of his competitive DNA. When the results were positive and titles came, everyone forgave Ernesto Valverde, for example, for not presenting Barcelona on the pitch. With no Barcelona and no results, coaches like Kuman seemed doomed, accepting war even from players steeped in the side’s traditional ways.

The 3-5-2, which the Dutch coach tried several times due to the problematic squad, had led to an image that even the most undemanding fan could not bear. Poor creation, few opportunities, few goals.

When Xavi signed, many believed he would be called upon to manage Kuman’s squad for at least two months so he could make minimal changes. The reality was different. The Spain coach was lucky with the timely recovery of some players but he himself pulled the strings to ‘change’ the squad without transfers.

He was looking for an extreme attacker, good at one-on-ones. He didn’t have it due to Usman Dembele and Anso Fati’s injuries but found it in the person of Abde Ezalzouli, the 20-year-old Moroccan second-team demon. Instead of regretting waiting for the January transfer window, he gave time to 23-year-old forward Ferran Jutgla and even 17-year-old winger Ilias Akomas.

He started developing the model of the game he wanted to convey to the team before finding the players who would help him implement it. When he took them, many wondered how three strikers like Ferran Torres, Pierre Emerick Obameyang, Adama Traore and a 38-year-old right-back, Danny Alves, would solve the huge defensive problems.

The… Xavi made the defense

This season has been difficult for Barcelona centre-backs as their ongoing injuries have resulted in many difficulties for Kuman. Xavi was luckier at this level, but it’s not enough for all the stoppers to be healthy for the team to have good defensive function. After all, last season’s healthy stoppers were a huge disappointment.

The team’s transformation even in suspension mode is due to the new way Barcelona play. The formation looks like a classic 4-3-3, but the method in which it is applied helps both the players in defense and of course the offensive function of the team.

A key role is played by the two front midfielders, usually De Jong and Pedri, who are instructed to move in half-spaces (the spaces between the vertical central axis and the wings) and to climb high on the field and even reach outside the opponent’s area, with or without the ball at your feet.

Such a move would have made Barcelona’s defense even more exposed were it not for Xavi’s innovation in the team, confirming just how much of a difference 38-year-old Alves can make. In Pep Guardiola’s role models at Manchester City, the two Blaugrana full-backs don’t move as full-backs, as has traditionally been the case for both the Brazilian and Jordi Alba throughout their careers. Instead, they become mediums themselves, partially covering the space left by De Jong and Pedri. Both have excellent skills with the ball and together with Sergio Busquets from behind they become the ‘brains’ of the Barcelona game.

If the ball is lost, they don’t stand forward and leave gaps that they can no longer fill as quickly due to age, but are already behind and have a defensive chain ready immediately together with Busquets and the two central defenders.

The start of the attack

In Kuman’s 13 games this season, in La Liga and Champions League, Barcelona have scored 15 times and had 20.9 xG. In 22 games against Xavi in ​​La Liga and Europe, Barcelona have 44 goals and 38.96 xG. Even if an adjustment is made due to the different number of games played, it’s clear that Barcelona’s attacking image has improved significantly.

“We will play with extremes”, Xavi insisted during his presentation and after four months nobody can deny that he is doing just that. Extremes constantly seeking each other and so Traore’s hunt in the winter transfer window just didn’t seem like a mystery. The same goes for the €55,000,000 that came from the team’s busted coffers for Torres’ takeover from Manchester City. As for the axis, Memphis Depay’s injury (which doesn’t sit well with Xavi’s plans anyway) has left a void suitable for a 32-year-old forward of great acumen like Obamayang to fill.

Those three players and their substitutes like Dembele, reincarnated with Xavi at the helm, have benefited from the changes in the game and now having two midfielders who are better at switching passes with. Most importantly, a left-back watching Traore and Pedri getting shot while approaching from the middle without the ball can’t decide who should score and usually confuses both himself and his team-mates. When Obamayang steps in behind de Jong, who reaches the semi-circle of the penalty area, the opponent’s centre-backs have already lost the game in terms of coverage, making life even easier for the Barcelona strikers.

In 17 games in 2022, Obamayang has nine goals, Torres six and five assists, Dembele seven assists, Traore and Alba four assists each. The “four” against Real was followed by one against Atletico in “Camp Nou”, one against Napoli in “Diego Maradona” and one against Valencia in “Mestalla”.

Barcelona are currently the hottest team in Spain, even if they are only 3rd in the table, even if they are playing in the Europa League for the first time in their history. The changes caused by Xavi’s presence on the team bench are now visible. All that remains is that his players follow him in the mentality that Xavi has maintained unchanged since his days as a Camp Nou player. “Methodically we can win the championship, so why not?” he asked himself weeks ago, long before he dissolved Real and this question was now on everyone’s lips, regardless of the goal difference between the two teams.