Xavi Hernandez appointed Barcelona boss

Xavi Hernandez is back on his old stomping ground. An FC Barcelona legend during his 24-season playing career at the club, the Spaniard takes up the reins following Ronald Koeman’s sacking and Sergi Barjuan’s interim tenure.

This appointment sees Xavi leave his previous role as head coach at Qatari outfit Al-Sadd to occupy the hotseat at a club where he clocked up 767 appearances (only Leo Messi has more to his name) and lifted 25 trophies.

After having spent his whole career at FC Barcelona, the Terrassa-born midfielder played out the dying embers of his playing days at Al-Sadd, where he took his first steps in management and guided the Asian outfit to several pieces of silverware during his short reign.

Following this enriching experience in Qatar, Xavi now returns to his boyhood club, where he will seek to engineer an upturn in fortunes following the Azulgranas’ inconsistent start to the LaLiga Santander campaign. Currently riding a three-match winless run, Barça are languishing down in ninth spot in the standings and lie nine points off the summit.