What the La Liga table would look like if it had started when Barcelona signed Xavi

On November 6, 2021, the footballing world finally heard the news they knew was imminent: Barcelona had hired legendary midfielder Xavi to replace sacked coach Ronald Koeman and, they hoped, lead them into a new era.

It was no easy task for the 42-year-old Catalan, who enjoyed such success in his 17 years as a Barcelona player.

Since Xavi left Barca in 2015 to play for and then manage Qatari side Al Sadd, Barcelona have sunk into a deep financial hole. So deep, indeed, that they were forced to let the great Lionel Messi go to new pastures last summer.

With Koeman at the helm, they were also drifting on the pitch.

Barcelona had won only four of their first 13 games of the season and, just as importantly, lacked the identity you expect from Blaugrana men.

Bringing in Xavi was seen as the antidote to that. Despite his relative inexperience as a coach, he's a man steeped in the vaunted Barcelona way, someone who grew up at the club during Johann Cruyff's Dream Team days and played for him at the club. era of Pep Guardiola's all-conquering passing masters. p>

He certainly knew what to say at his unveiling to strengthen the bond with the fans, if he needed strengthening.

Standing on the Camp Nour pitch, he said: "This is the biggest club in the world and I will work hard to meet your expectations. Barcelona cannot accept a draw or a loss. We have to win all matches.

"I come prepared. My DNA has not changed. You have to take charge, have the ball, create chances, be intense. We are on a mission to save a lot of things that have been lost."

They won Xavi's first match, a 1-0 victory in the Catalan derby with a team that was very different from Koeman's days.

Since then, everything has not been easy. There was a heavy loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League which resulted in Barcelona dropping out of the Europa League for the first time since 2003-04.

Barca also lost their first Clasico of the Xavi era with a 3-2 defeat in the Super Cup, and suffered a shock Europa League exit against Eintracht Frankfurt.

But there are major signs of progress. Since Xavi's arrival, Barcelona have earned more La Liga points than anyone else. They are currently five points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga in pursuit of their first league title since 2019.

This improvement in form, which began last November, was enough to see Barcelona take second place in the 2021-22 table, finish second and qualify for the Champions League with three games to play.

It was Xavi's mission when he arrived, and in November a place in the top four was all but guaranteed.

And Barcelona's 4-0 victory at the Bernabeu in March was proof that Xavi made Barcelona a serious force to be reckoned with once again - and they started the new season in impressive form. We could be set for an exciting La Liga title race in the months to come…

Here we've taken a detailed look at the La Liga standings over the past 12 months, to see how Xavi fared against his opponents. Unless otherwise stated, teams have played 39 matches.

Note: We've only included the 17 teams that have been in La Liga throughout Xavi's tenure as Barcelona manager. This table does not include last season's relegated trio, Granada, Levante and Alaves, nor the teams newly promoted in 2022-23, Almeria, Real Valladolid and Girona.

1. Barcelona – 93 points, +54 GD (40 games played)2. Real Madrid- 91 points, +52 GD3. Atletico Madrid - 72 points, +22 GD4. Real Betis - 67 points, +26 GD (38 games played)5. Villarreal – 62 points, +29 GD6. Athletic Bilbao - 61 points, +14 GD (40 games played)7. Real Sociedad - 57 pts, -5 GD 8. Sevilla - 54 pts, +1 GD 9. Osasuna - 51 pts, -9 GD 10. Valencia - 47 pts, -2 GD 11. Celta Vigo - 47 pts, -8 GD (37 games played)12. Getafe – 44 points, 0 GD (37 games played)13. Rayo Vallecano - 43 points, -12 GD (38 games played)14. Mallorca - 40 points, -22 GD (38 games played)15. Cadiz – 38 points, -23 GD (38 games played)16. Espanyol – 37 points, -19 GD (38 games played)17. Elche – 35 points, -27 GD

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