Barcelona fans had long since left the stadium after witnessing their team fall apart in a shameful 5-3 loss to Villarreal, but even taking into account how low the fabled club’s standards had dropped this season, those left milling around Montjuic could sense there would be ramifications of some kind.
“Hey, where is Xavi? Is there something going on?” asked a member of the security team in the stadium to a couple of journalists in the media area, almost an hour and a half after the end of the match. The Catalan manager was way behind schedule for his post-match duties and yet to make an appearance in the press room.
“He’s never normally this late and we need to close the stadium at some point,” the security guards added, hinting at a hope their work shift would soon be done. Very few knew the bombshell of the night was about to be dropped.
When Xavi finally stepped into the press room at Montjuic, he did so flanked by one of Barcelona’s press officers, the personal media consultant he had hired earlier this season (Edu Polo), wife Nuria Cunillera, and his brother and assistant manager, Oscar Hernandez.
It was the first time during his tenure at the club that his family attended a post-match press conference.
Xavi took the central seat and asked for a moment to talk…
