The RAC1 network sparked controversy by confirming that Barcelona president Joan Laporta forced Xavi Hernandez to include the trio of Robert Lewandowski, Ronald Araujo and Ilkay Gundogan in the squad for the Champions League match against Antwerp.
The Catalan coach had decided to rest the trio, who had participated in most of this season's matches, especially since Barcelona had qualified for the round of 16 and had nothing to lose in the match against the Belgian club.
But hours later, a change was made to the list by bringing the trio back, and the Spanish newspapers attributed this to Xavi's decision to reunite the team by staying an additional day in Belgium after the Antwerp match.
According to RAC1, the real reason was a call from Laporta during which he stressed the necessity of including the trio, and imposed the matter on Xavi, who could not refuse or stop it.
This move sparked great anger among Spanish newspaper analysts, and some considered it the first time that a club president had interfered in this way in technical decisions that had nothing to do with him, and some went on to say that Xavi's own future was in danger.
But the newspaper "Sport" downplayed these risks, and said that the decision came in agreement between the sports administration and Xavi, and that the relationship between Laporta and Xavi is excellent despite everything that is said to the contrary.
The past few hours have witnessed other news that Gundogan, Lewandowski and Jules Kounde have turned against Xavi's coaching staff and believe that he is the cause of the team's crises in the wake of the 4-2 loss to Girona.
It is clear that the atmosphere in Barcelona's locker room is not the best in the recent period, and Laporta's movements are adding to the flames instead of trying to calm things down, even in front of the eyes of the newspapers.
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