It was shortly after Vitinha put visitors Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 up on the night that Xavi really lost the plot.
The Champions League quarter-final’s aggregate score was still level with over half an hour of the 90 to play but Ronald Araujo had been sent off and ex-Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele had already popped up to set the damage in motion — hurting both his previous club and the coach who got the best out of him before his dramatic departure for PSG last summer.
On Tuesday night, Dembele thrived in what must have been the most tense atmosphere he has faced. After being withdrawn late on, his smile on the sidelines as he watched his new team score for a fourth time in the game said it all.
You would not say Xavi thrived. His red card on 56 minutes showed that — though there was plenty more drama to come.
After the game, Dembele posed on the pitch with the player of the match award he’d been presented. Next to him was Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who came down from the VIP seats after the final whistle to celebrate with his team. The PSG president, protected by several security guards, was the target of objects thrown from the stands as he hugged Kylian Mbappe, who scored twice in a 4-1 victory that sent the French side through to the semi-finals, 6-4 winners on aggregate.
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By that time, Xavi had also returned to the pitch from the stands. He has now been sent off three times this season — as a player, he was dismissed just twice during his 17 years with Barca.
The 44-year-old’s latest dismissal came after kicking a board protecting the TV camera operator positioned between him and opposite number Luis Enrique when protesting a foul given for a Frenkie de Jong challenge on Dembele.
In his post-match press conference, the Barcelona coach explained he went back out to have a word or two with the officials: “I just told the referee that he’s been a disaster. It’s the reality.”
Xavi’s anger didn’t end there. According to sources who were present in the stadium tunnel, he was still agitated on his way to the home dressing room after his red card and was shouting Vitinha’s name loudly as he continued to complain. During the first leg, Xavi felt the PSG midfielder could have been shown a second yellow card for a foul that stopped a Barca counter.
“I’ll try to speak from a more calm perspective,” he also said during his post-match press conference.
“I think that at this level, playing 11 against 10 is almost impossible. Araujo’s red card was not necessary. It just killed the tie. It was an incredible match-up with two teams going toe-to-toe. But then the decision made it impossible.”
Ilkay Gundogan consoles Raphinha after the final whistle (Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In contrast to his manager, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan spoke to the media back in the ‘brutal honesty mode’ already seen following Barcelona’s home defeat by Real Madrid in October’s La Liga Clasico. He pointed towards the Catalan team’s own mistakes and detached referee Istvan Kovacs from the tie’s outcome.
“We were in such a good position after the first goal we scored (to go 4-2 up on aggregate),” the Germany international said. “It was all in our hands. We just gave it away to PSG in the most simple manner, and that’s the most disappointing part.
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“If Araujo fouled (Bradley) Barcola, I guess it’s a red card. I have not seen the replay yet so I don’t know if he got the ball, but it’s difficult to say. In these crucial moments, you need to be sure to get the ball. If you don’t get it, you have to stay away.
“Of course I would have preferred to concede a goal there, or give the striker a one v one against (goalkeeper Marc-Andre) Ter Stegen. Going down to 10 men with so much time to play just killed us.”
Ter Stegen said the same in the mixed zone.
“I don’t want to say it was a mistake from Araujo because he was going after the ball,” he said. “But if the referee gives the foul there, then it’s a red card. That moment changed everything for us.”
Araujo himself took a long time to leave the pitch when dismissed, only doing so eventually after complaining bitterly to Kovacs and performing a gesture with his hand that signalled robbery. But as the hours went by, sources close to the centre-back explained he was being as self-critical as he could be.
The 25-year-old Uruguay international has acknowledged in private his share of responsibility in the tie and assumed it with maturity, they said, adding that nothing hurt him more than committing a mistake that has an impact on his team-mates, especially in a key game.
Xavi and Araujo weren’t the only ones sent off — Barca’s goalkeepers coach Jose Ramon de la Fuente also saw red after erupting in complaint on the sidelines. Nor was Araujo the only one to make a telling error — Joao Cancelo’s rash challenge on Dembele in the box allowed Mbappe to give PSG the aggregate lead from the penalty spot in the 61st minute. Xavi called what Cancelo did “a huge mistake”.
Araujo’s challenge on Barcola in the first half (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
All of the drama and poor decision-making contrasted sharply with PSG’s cool heads. “After the first leg (which Barca won 3-2) I said we needed to trust the team. We have an outstanding manager who I believe in a lot. I think Luis Enrique is the best in the world,” Al-Khelaifi said.
A fair number of Barca fans left their seats and headed for home when Mbappe scored PSG’s fourth in the 89th minute — moments after Robert Lewandowski had a good chance to level the tie at 5-5 on aggregate.
But it felt significant that a much larger percentage of the crowd stayed to recognise the effort the home players had put in.
That epitomised why, despite the turmoil and turbulence, Tuesday’s defeat by the French champions and runaway league leaders shouldn’t go down as another European trauma for Barca.
This was a game that gave Barcelona fans the feeling of being a part of football’s biggest stage again, for the first time in years. The buzz around the city during Tuesday was reflected in the best attendance of the season at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, their temporary home while the Camp Nou undergoes extensive renovations — 50,311.
Barca have not experienced anything like this for ages, despite winning the 2022-23 La Liga title, and they have something to build on from next season.
Yes, there were failings, but this was not a capitulation. It was not Rome in 2018, not Anfield in 2019, and not the 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in 2020’s one-leg quarter-final. Last night’s loss was not defined by the team’s attitude.
Xavi has been sent off three times this season (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
That attitude will be tested again very soon, because on Sunday they play away against Real Madrid in La Liga. Their El Clasico rivals are already eight points clear of them at the top of the table with seven games to go.
It is clear to see why this week was highlighted as a key one that would define Barcelona’s immediate future, on and off the pitch.
We now know they won’t pick up any further Champions League prize money, and we also know they won’t qualify for the inaugural expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States in summer 2025 — which is expected to be worth €50million (£42.6m; $53.2m at current rates) each to those competing.
But there is a huge amount of uncertainty still on the sporting side of things, too. Xavi said that he has not planned any meeting with the club’s board after this week to plan the future, insisting his mind is still set on leaving at the end of the season — even after predecessor and last night’s opposite number Luis Enrique said he remains the best man for the job.
“I think Xavi is the perfect manager for this Barcelona, so I hope he stays in the club for the forthcoming seasons,” said the PSG coach.
Xavi was asked for his own thoughts.
“If I agree with him on staying here for more years? Easy. I don’t agree with it,” he replied.
(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
