The Catalan Derby will have as a great condiment the premiere of the Barça idol as technical director. From 5pm on DirecTV
This Catalan Derby will not be one more in history, since it will have as its main seasoning the official debut of Xavi Hernández, one of the greatest idols in the history of Barcelona, as technical director. Its premiere will be, nothing more and nothing less, than in the classic against Espanyol. Since 17, at the Camp Nou. The referee will be Carlos Del Cerro.
The Barça leadership chose to take a turn after the defeats in a row against Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano and fired the Dutch Ronald Koeman. After a few weeks of negotiations, they managed to remove the former Qatari Al-Sadd midfielder.
Xavi, who in his time as a footballer won 25 titles (8 Leagues, 6 Spanish Super Cup, 3 King’s Cup, 4 Champions League, 2 European Super Cups and 2 Club World Cups), will have several casualties to make up the team, like Sergiño Dest, Pedri, Osumane Dembélé, Martin Braithwaite and Sergio Agüero (the future is uncertain as a result of an arrhythmia). In addition, the brand new addition Dani Alves will only be able to debut in January.
Faced with this scenario, the strategist will bet on several young people from the first minute, such as Nicolas Gonzalez, Gavi, who is even already an important piece in the Spanish senior team and Ansu Fati. The main attacking reference will be Memphis Depay, one of the reinforcements for this season.
The Barca , after twelve performances, has a total of 17 units, which positions it to 11 of the leading Real Sociedad (morning greets Valencia) and three of the Rayo Vallecano, the last to qualify for an international competition (League Conference).
Los Periquitos , who returned to the top flight of Spanish football this season, are going through a season similar to that of their classic rival, as they also have 17 units, albeit with one more game.