Under-pressure Xavi says he still has Barcelona´s trust

Barcelona coach Xavi says he still has the club’s trust, despite a steady stream of media reports president Joan Laporta may be minded to sack him.

“I understand the noise but that changes nothing,” Xavi told reporters on Saturday after a training session ahead of his side’s game against Rayo Vallecano.

The manager added that his focus was on winning the three points and “the team has an extraordinary base to compete.”

“We’ll sit down with the president and if we have to talk about anything, we’ll do that,” he said about rumours of Laporta’s loss of confidence in him.

“But everything is the same as it was three weeks ago. If there are any changes we’ll let you know.”

Time to prepare Matchday 37 pic.twitter.com/9VU8slSkpE

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Despite being a club great and winning LaLiga last season, Xavi has been under pressure this campaign after Barcelona failed to catch Real Madrid, who have already secured the title.

In January, Xavi said he would resign at the end of this season, but last month he sat down with club officials and agreed to honour the last year of his contract until mid-2025 – with a series of unspecified conditions set by the club.

However, Xavi told reporters on Thursday that the club’s situation is difficult, especially in economic terms, and it was tough to compete with the likes of Madrid, in comments that reportedly angered Laporta.

The club has a bloated wage bill, while a 1.6 billion euro ($1.7 billion) renovation project is also underway at the Camp Nou stadium.