La Liga: Xavi tight-lipped on Barca role
Xavi won't be drawn in on Barca speculationBarcelona legend Xavi is distancing himself from talk of a return to manage his former club as speculation intensifies about him replacing Ronald Koeman.
Barca play their first game since the Dutchman's midweek departure on Saturday and they are 2/9 to get the better of Alaves at Camp Nou.
Blaugrana start new era
The visitors, who have already shocked champions Atletico Madrid this season, are 11/1 to claim three points while the draw is available at 11/2.
Koeman's departure came on Wednesday night after a 1-0 defeat at Rayo Vallecano and the former Barcelona defender had looked to be on borrowed time for quite a while.
A 2-1 home defeat to archrivals Real Madrid a few days before did not help and president Juan Laporta is already looking to bring Xavi back to the club.
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Xavi focused on Al Sadd
However, the former midfielder, who scored 58 goals in 505 appearances from the club, signed a two-year contract extension as manager of Qatari team Al Sadd in May and the club's owners are determined to keep hold of their man.
Taking Xavi back to Barca is seen as a popular move with the club going through a real sticky patch.
They headed into the weekend ninth in the Spanish table, nine points behind pacesetters Real Sociedad, and they have suffered 3-0 defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica in their Champions League qualification group.
Laporta will be looking to make a swift change but Xavi was remaining tight-lipped about any potential return to the scene of his glorious playing career.
He said: "I'm currently focused on my work with Al Sadd and I cannot talk about anything else."
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