Profile
Raphinha: The making of Xavi's own difference-maker?
Raphinha not only embraces the role of a difference maker but also thrives in exactly what the squad has been missing
FC Barcelona
Preview
Athletic Club opposition analysis: Xavi vs Valverde Round 2
Athletic Club’s defensive structure is still solid but a couple of squeaky wheels alongside some mechanical flaws could cause trouble for Valverde’s men when they welcome the Catalan giants at San Mames this Sunday.
Opinion
How deep (and good) is Barcelona's squad actually?
Crippled with debt, Barca's squad is suboptimal and they will face face far more obstacles in the near future.
Tactics
Robbed of the ball and their identity but still alive and victorious
Xavi’s approach was transition heavy, prioritising natural and direct wingers on either flank for quick turnarounds, exploiting space and providing width
Tactics
Deflated, disjointed and utterly disinterested: Will the real Barça please stand up
Barca miss the spark to get them over the final hurdle and lack the crucial bite to put the chances away.
Tactics
Barcelona are young and exciting. But Barcelona are also still naive and inexperienced
Barcelona’s fault was never capitalising on their controlled phases and then shutting off when it mattered the most
Tactics
Are Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres key to Barcelona's success at Old Trafford?
Xavi's box midfield has been effective. But against United in the Europa League the first leg was a tactical failure.
Tactics
Manipulation, isolation and dynamic superiority: Inside Xavi's brilliant mind
Xavi has a brilliant football mind. Can he temper that with man management and match experience to evolve into an elite coach?
Tactics
Raphinha & the annihilation of the offside line
Raphinha is the master of the parallel run and we’ve already seen him reap the benefits of its (almost) unstoppable nature.
Tactics
All that glitters is not gold: Xavi Hernández and the optimisation of the Barca project
Xavi has now had the worst start of any Barcelona coach with 50+ games since as early as 2001. 50 games, 28 wins, 11 draws and 11 defeats amount to a 56% win rate. Quite clearly, for a club of Barcelona’s aspirations, it is severely lacking.
Review
Taming the Chaos: Making sense of Barcelona's madness against Real Sociedad
Xavi still needs time to finesse his style, but this was a good example of his adjusting tactically as the game grew
Tactics
Xavi's wide conundrum & the Raphinha-Dembélé experiment
The Frenchman is far more effective on the right while Raphinha turns into a creator on the left, but maybe there is a case for him to be a more central player