Xavi said he would be understanding if he was fired by Barcelona if he fails to incite a turnaround at Nou Camp.
The Blaugrana boss splashed close to £150million in the summer with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde all arriving.
Barca also brought in Franck Kesselsi and Andreas Christensen as free transfers. But their season is already at risk of collapse.
La Liga’s top spot was taken by the Catalan club on Sunday. Real Madrid defeated 3-1In the first El Clasico campaign.
After losing two of their first four games, they could be out of the Champions League group stage.
Barca still has to face Bayern Munich. It is possible they will fall to the Europa League for the second consecutive season.
TalkSPORT was told that this would be ‘catastrophic’ for the Catalan club’s financial plansBarcelona knows that they might be eliminated from the Champions League by the time Bayern arrives at the Nou Camp next Wednesday.
Should Inter Milan beat Viktoria Plzen in next Wednesday’s early kick-off, Barca would be resigned to playing in Europe’s second-tier competition.
XaviHe knows the pressure is on him to deliver, even though his team lost just once in their first nine Spanish top-flight matches.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s clash against Villarreal, Xavi was asked whether he would understand if he is axed.
To which he said: “Of course. It’s football.
“People on the street raise their fists at me as a sign of encouragement.
“Now we have to continue and face reality, but I’m always positive.
“With the effort made by the club and the squad we have, we have to compete for trophies.
“And if we don’t win, as the president [Joan Laporta]Regardless of what you do, there will be consequences.
“If we don’t win, another coach will come in. But I am going to give everything so that this works.”
He added: “The team’s situation is what it is. We started like a shot and now we’re not so good.
“This doesn’t stop me. We must continue to move forward step by step. We are three points behind. [LaLiga]We must continue to be a leader
“This is too long and we can’t stop. The road from success to defeat is so small.”
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