Amid a difficult season, Barcelona have returned to their roots. When Ronald Koeman was sacked in October, it was no surprise the club immediately turned to former player Xavi Hernandez. Sporting director Mateu Alemany and vice president Rafa Yuste were sent to Qatar, and three days later, after agreeing to a schedule for paying off the €5 million release clause in Xavi's contract with Al Sadd, they returned to Barcelona with a new manager.
On Saturday (stream live, 2:50 p.m. ET on ESPN+) he will take charge of his first match against Espanyol at Camp Nou and despite the chaos and poor results that led to his arrival, rarely has a managerial appointment felt more preordained.