Xavi begins Barcelona reign with hard-fought victory over Espanyol

Barcelona Legend Xavi Hernandez started his reign as the coach of the side with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Espanyol on Saturday night in the La Liga.

Xavi was appointed as the new Barcelona coach after the sacking of Ronald Koeman earlier in the month as the Club brought the former midfielder in from Al Sadd in Qatar.

His first game came against a difficult Espanyol side at the Camp Nou but Memphis Depay’s penalty close to halftime was enough to secure all three points for Barcelona.

However, the focus will now be on Xavi’s performance on his first UEFA Champions League game as manager of the club against Benfica at the Camp Nou in the week.

Barcelona are second in the group behind Bayern Munich with six points, two above Benfica in third.

Earlier on Saturday, Atletico Madrid showed champions resilience as they snatched all three points with a late goal from Brazilian defender Felipe in the 87th minute against Osasuna.

The win puts them in fourth with 26 points from 13 games played while Barcelona moved into sixth with 20 points from 13 games played.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid were comfortable in their win against Granada on Sunday evening with a 4-1 scoreline.

Madrid took the lead through Marco Asensio in the nineteenth minute before Nacho made it two few minutes later. Luis Suarez pulled one back in the 34th minute but Vinicius Jnr and Ferland Mendy’s second half goals sealed the victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

Both Madrid clubs will now turn their attentions to the UEFA Champions League during the week, where Real Madrid will hope to boost their chances of moving into the next round with a tie against Sheriff Tiraspol who defeated them in a shock 2-1 loss at the Bernabeau in the first leg while Atletico Madrid will face AC Milan.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu