With Barcelona set to face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu later tonight, the squad, led by manager Xavi Hernandez, landed in the Spanish capital a little while ago.
Upon landing in Spain, the Barcelona manager received a wave of support from the Cules that were gathered to welcome the team in Madrid.
Loud chants of ‘Xavi, stay!’ broke out when the club legend was spotted near the club’s hotel in the Spanish capital, reports SPORT.
Around 200 Barcelona fans were gathered at the gates of the Intercontinental Hotel on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid where the Catalan giants will be setting up base.
And as soon as the manager stepped out of the team bus, the Culers shouted and cheered for him, showing their support to the head coach and even imploring him to stay.
Xavi announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season back in January itself. Since his announcement, though, the team has turned things around spectacularly on the field, prompting a change of sentiment around his future.
The Barcelona administration, led by club president Joan Laporta himself, has been trying to convince Xavi to stay on as manager beyond this season.
But the former midfielder has shown no sign whatsoever of wanting to change his decision, although a meeting is supposedly scheduled for next week for the two parties to discuss the matter.
A large section of the fans, however, seem to be in favour of Xavi’s continuity and whether that convinces him to change his decision remains to be seen.
For now, though, the full focus will be on tonight’s game against Real Madrid, which Barcelona must win if they are to stay alive in the La Liga title race.
