By Alex Molina / amolina@eurohoops.net
Xavi Pascual has publicly explained the reasons behind his decision to leave Barça at the end of the season in an emotional and deeply honest press conference. The coach made it clear that his departure is not the result of a specific conflict, but rather a mismatch with the club’s working dynamics and the emotional toll of the current campaign.
“My wish is to reach the end and win this title to close this chapter — a chapter many of us are ending — in the best possible way,” Pascual said. “The club is in a very good moment, it is moving upward, and there will be years of success or years very close to success. And you know I will be very happy if that happens.”
The coach insisted he is not trying to prove himself right or blame anyone inside the organization. “I’m not trying to claim I’m right about anything. The club has its own way of functioning and its own dynamics, and it has come across someone who sees things differently, and that’s all,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean I’m right, I don’t feel that way at all. Simply, the pace and the way of working are not what I want, not what makes me feel good and makes me believe I can lead the team to win. I’d rather someone else do it, someone who will feel comfortable with it.”
Pascual confirmed the decision is final and the result of a long personal reflection. “I will remain the same until the end of the season, when the farewell will come,” he said. “I’ve changed. I’m still sensitive, but I see sports differently now, the way clubs and teams operate. The speed of execution — you have to be very dynamic or you get left behind. I now have a much broader vision of all that. But I’m still that Barça supporter, that Laporta supporter and culé who always wants to win and wants to put Barça back at the top.”
One of the points he most wanted to highlight was the work done alongside the sporting management to build a competitive roster despite the club’s financial limitations. “Mario, Juan Carlos and I have worked extremely hard to figure out how we can compete with Europe’s economic powerhouses,” Pascual said. “We’ve had the bad luck that we cannot rely on our youth academy, there’s a situation that makes it very difficult to promote players from below. Our junior team won the EuroLeague, and if we could keep that group together we could overcome this financial gap, like in football. But our reality does not allow it, and we have to be very intelligent.”
Despite everything, Pascual expressed confidence in the future of the project. “We’ve worked hard and done a great job. The team will be extremely competitive if the roster can be completed in the best possible way, and I’m sure it will be right at the top.” He also pointed to the inflation of the transfer market. “The inflation in the transfer market has multiplied. We thought it could happen, and it’s been even worse than expected. But thanks to the abilities of those two, we’ve managed to build a really well-constructed team.”
On a personal level, Pascual admitted he has been deeply affected by not reaching the minimum sporting objectives required at Barça. “I’m a very demanding person in everything, but I don’t have a bad relationship with anyone. I separate the professional side, I never create enemies,” he explained. “But not everyone is always on the same page, and that’s why not everyone has the same friends. That’s why I’ve decided to take this step: we are not exactly on the same page.”
The coach openly admitted that the EuroLeague disappointment was devastating for him. “I’ve burned out this season. Every question is about the budget, about next season… but we are still in this season. I didn’t take Barça to the EuroLeague playoffs. Me. I will never forgive myself for that in my life, that’s who I am. I cannot lose with Barça.” He added: “It wears me down in such a way… and I saw it coming. That’s what destroyed me more than the future itself.”
Despite the pain of the decision, Pascual left the door open for a possible return one day. “If they want me… this is my home and I will always be willing to come back,” he stated. “I knew exactly what I was doing, where I was coming to and what could happen. I hoped it wouldn’t happen, but… I would do it again. The club was in a delicate situation, and now it isn’t anymore.”
The coach explained that his experience has reinforced the importance of feeling fully aligned with one’s working environment. “It’s a source of pride — it’s your home, your club, the greatest thing you can do. There’s nothing bigger. But there are many variables,” he reflected. “I travel across Europe giving leadership and group management conferences. The first thing I say is that people need to feel they are in the right place, otherwise they are doomed to fail. If they feel they cannot do their work the way they want to, sooner or later they will be shown the door. I always explain that to others, and now I have to apply it to myself.”
Pascual also stressed that his relationship with the club remained professional and collaborative until the very end. “We’ve worked together until the last day, trying to convince a player to join us. On the same page in successes and mistakes, we have worked together as a team. We all have different ideas, but in the end we came out with one shared direction.”
The coach rejected the idea that he had been dismissed by the club. “This noise exists because Barça did not fire me — I decided to leave. That makes it much more newsworthy,” he said. “And it’s for all the reasons I’ve already explained: I simply have a way of thinking that has worn me down enormously and I’ve reached a point where I no longer feel like the right person to lead what’s coming next, which is something very beautiful.”
Pascual believes his departure could ultimately benefit both parties. “We would end up hurting each other. That’s how I am — eventually I’d end up angry with everyone. I need everything immediately, with a sense of urgency, and the club functions differently. Before it becomes a problem, I’d rather take a step back, because what’s coming is very good, even better than what we had before.”
He also reiterated that the accumulated frustration of the season played a decisive role. “Arriving at the Copa del Rey with so many injured and struggling players frustrated me a lot, but above all, not reaching the EuroLeague. Falling short of the minimum Barça demands, which is the EuroLeague quarterfinals. That hurts me deeply.”
Pascual revealed that the club tried hard to convince him to stay. “They tried very hard. Those were private conversations that I cannot reveal, but they tried in the best possible way and I appreciate their barcelonismo,” he said. “But these are decisions, and as men we have to stand by them: if we make a decision, we have to go all the way with it.”
Finally, he made it clear that nothing — not even winning the league title — will change his mind. “I don’t think you’ll see me leave in a bad way, and if we win the league, I’ll leave even happier. Winning the league will change nothing. Nothing can change it,” he stated.
Pascual concluded by insisting that stepping aside is, in his view, the best thing for the club moving forward. “One of the reasons we are here now is so the club can find its own path without this figure, so it can continue working in the direction it believes is appropriate.”
Photo credit: Barça
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