Xavi leads Al Sadd to Qatar Cup triumph after declining Barcelona offer

Xavi won his second trophy as a coach after leading Al Sadd to a 4-0 success over Al Duhail in the Qatar Cup final, days after turning down the Barcelona job.

Barca icon Xavi confirmed on Thursday that he had declined the opportunity to succeed Ernesto Valverde at Camp Nou.

Valverde was sacked on Monday, with former Real Betis and Las Palmas coach Quique Setien swiftly appointed.

Xavi claimed he turned Barca down because he believed it was “too soon” in his coaching career to take such a job, yet he will have done his credentials no harm with Friday’s triumph.

#البطولة_71#CHAMP71N pic.twitter.com/juLsMF2XRI

— AlSadd S.C | نادي السد (@AlsaddSC) January 17, 2020

Nam Tae-hee opened the scoring early on for Al Sadd, with Baghdad Bounedjah then doubling their tally after a mistake from Duhail’s goalkeeper Amine Lecomte.

Bounedjah helped himself to a second before half-time, with Akram Afif’s penalty completing the rout midway through the second half.

Friday’s victory secured Xavi his second piece of silverware in charge of Al Sadd, who won the Qatari Super Cup in August last year.

Barca, meanwhile, kick-off the Setien era with a home match against Granada in LaLiga on Sunday.