Barcelona and Xavi problems only just starting over Lionel Messi return

If Xavi thinks it was difficult to bring success to Barcelona this season, just wait until he sees the challenge that awaits him in the next season.

The Barcelona coach doesn’t want to think too much about it as he travels through the city in an open-top bus on Monday afternoon.

But with its president Joan Laporta once again raising the question of Lionel Messi’s return, the club is preparing to move into a largely disused stadium that needs €20 million [£17.4m] upgrade only to make it match-ready, and with the immense pressure to play better, win more goals and perform in Europe, it won’t be long before his attention turns to the monumental tasks ahead.

The 2023-2024 season could be Barca’s toughest season to date, with or without Messi.

The PSG striker appeared to be present on Alejandro Balde’s Instagram Live on Sunday evening as the Barcelona defender recorded the team’s dressing room celebration.

On Monday morning, Joan Laporta did his round of post-title interviews and claimed he had made peace with Messi and removed at least one of the obstacles to his return.

“I have spoken to him to put things right,” he told Catalan television. “The conversation was cordial, I congratulated him on the World Cup. With great respect to Saudi Arabia, who are doing well with their league, Barça is Barça – this is its home.’

Saudi Arabia offers Messi 400 million euros [£348m]but Laporta pointed out that Barcelona offers him 400 million followers worldwide.

“We want Leo,” he added. “But the club will not cross our borders to bring him in as we are still working on our austerity plan.”

The mixed messages don’t help Xavi, who may just be the loser no matter how the soap plays out.

If Messi does not come, he will have to deal with the feeling of disappointment that will hang over the club like a dark cloud next season. And when he arrives, Xavi needs to make it work on the pitch, bearing in mind that it stopped working in the last few seasons before Messi left.

In the classic 4-3-3 that Barcelona so often preferred, Messi no longer really fits. He can’t stretch teams as a wide forward, he’s long since stopped functioning as a false nine and he certainly has the box-to-box energy of one of the lateral midfielders.

Xavi’s plan is to use the ‘magic square’ midfield he has favored this season, with Pedri and Gavi in ​​the top two corners and Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets in the bottom two corners.

A future quartet would have Messi instead of Gavi who could drop back alongside Frenkie de Jong who will replace Sergio Busquets.

It doesn’t sound like a bad midfield behind Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele, but there will be concerns that it will simply be overrun against the more physical sides Barcelona are likely to face in Europe.

There are also more pressing needs at the club. Gavi and brilliant 19-year-old left-back Alejandro Balde need to get their contracts registered and the club need to sign a new right-back and replacement for Busquets – and they need to do it all after losing director of football Mateu Alemany to Aston Villa.

Eduard Romeu, the club’s economic vice president, said last week: “We are no longer in intensive care, but we are still in hospital, referring to the ongoing problems with LaLiga’s maximum spending restrictions.

Barcelona must reduce the wage bill by 200 million euros [£174m]to trade 1:1 on the transfer market.

If they don’t, LaLiga will apply the 40 percent rule to the club, meaning they have to earn €100 million [£87m] to spend €40 million [£34.8m]. Referring to the first scenario, Romeu said, “I want to make it clear that every player who enters must leave a player of the same value.”

Responsibility will be passed to Xavi regarding who leaves and another burden rests on his shoulders. But besides being unfair, it’s just not true – the players will decide for themselves who leaves.

Raphinha has already reacted angrily to suggestions he has given the club the go-ahead to sack him at the end of the season.

And he’s not the only one who doesn’t want to go. Frenkie de Jong was said to have been sold to Manchester United last season, but he refused to move.

Now Ansu Fati, another Premier League offer, has also told the club he wants to stay.

With no one leaving it is hard to understand how Barcelona cut their wage bill by the necessary €200m and so the new director of football – most likely to be Deco – will have to work the market with one arm tied tightly behind his back.

And if all this wasn’t enough of a headache, Barcelona’s move to the city’s old Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 49,000 will reduce match revenue by €94 million. [£81.75m] throughout the season and severely reduce home field advantage.

In an effort to get tourists into the temporary arena and thereby increase ticket prices, only about 22,000 season ticket holders will get a chance to see the team at home next season.

The potential for a cold arena where a running track separates the fans from the players doesn’t bode well. Especially when it’s half filled with tourists and half with Barça fans who expect more football than this season, where 11 of Barcelona’s wins have been 1-0.

Xavi could win the league again, against all odds, and against an inevitably revived Real Madrid.

But when he does, the moan will be, ‘Well, you did it last season, what about Europe?’ And if he doesn’t win the league, the criticism will be even worse.

He will be aware of all this – but for today it will be in the back of his mind.

Barcelona were not looking to win the league at the start of the season, nor after the first Clásico where they were comfortably beaten by Real Madrid. He turned it around and deserves the city of Barcelona to salute him for it today.