By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a long and emmotional press conference, Barcelona announced the end of coach Xavi Pascual’s tenure with the team and a “change of model”.
As Albert Soler, the club’s director of sporting institutional relations at FC Barcelona explained: “The decision would have been the same in case of winning the league. We are not changing just the coach, but we change the model”.
Of course, Xavi Pascual had only good things to say about the club: “I want to thank the club which I had to fortune and honor to represent. I want to thank all the fans. I had only one objective: Make all of Barcelona happy. I have only one thing to demand (ed. note: from the press) that the title of today’s press conferance to be “Thank you”. I believe that I have amply demonstrated my “Barcelonismo”. This is a difficult moment. I started being 35 years old, now I am 43. I think I still have many things to do, many great things to do”.
Pascual had been Barcelona’s head coach since he replaced Dusko Ivanovic in February 2008. Prior to that, he had been an assistant or youth team coach dating back to 2004. He led Barcelona to winning at least one major title in each of his first six full seasons as head coach. He guided the club to four Spanish League titles, three Spanish Copa del Rey trophies and the 2009-10 Turkish Airlines Euroleague crown.
Pascual became the first Spanish coach to win the Euroleague title in three decades and was chosen as the Alexander Gomelskiy Euroleague Coach of the Year at the end of the 2009-10 season. Apart from going all the way in 2010, Pascual also helped Barcelona advance to the Euroleague Final Four in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014. His coaching record in the Euroleague stands at an impressive 160-52 (75.47%).