SUMMARY
- Xavi has had a tough time at FC Barcelona in recent times, losing to Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup final.
- The loss has shed light on Xavi's coaching team, which is said to include his brother and other close relatives.
FC Barcelona’s loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup has shed some light on Xavi’s coaching team. Xavi had an impressive start to life at Barca, winning the 2022–23 Supercopa de España & the 2022–23 La Liga title after taking over for his first-ever full season. But since then, the Spanish coach has been facing some major troubles from Barca’s arch-rival, Real Madrid.
Fans raised questions over Xavi’s coaching team after the 4-1 loss to the Los Blancos. Some pointed out that Xavi’s coaching team included his brother, and that there were some of his cousins present as well. Upon further inspection, this turns out to be true. FC Barcelona‘s current assistant manager is Óscar Hernández Creus, who is Xavi’s older brother.
Other than Oscar, Xavi’s coaching team also consists of a second assistant manager, Sergio Alegre, who boasts some experience as the head coach. He managed UE Rubí in Spain’s third division from July 2016 until the end of that year, before being let go because of poor on-field results. In January 2017, he moved to Qatar and became an assistant manager, where he would eventually meet Xavi.
Óscar Hernández Creus’ managerial career so far
Óscar Hernández Creus’ professional managerial career has been mostly revolving around his younger brother. He started his managerial career with the ASPIRE Academy. The foundation is based in Qatar, and it aims to identify the best local talents and help them reach the top of soccer. One of the specialties of the academy is that it reportedly costs almost nothing to join, all athletes who impress the scouts will be provided full scholarships throughout.
Although the number of games he managed for ASPIRE is not known, Transfermarkt mentions that Oscar was managing the team from July 2015 until June 2019. That was when he decided to join his brother, Xavi, at Al-Sadd in the Qatar Stars League. Xavi took over at the club and had Oscar by his side right from the start. That clearly indicates that Oscar left his job at ASPIRE behind to join as assistant manager at Al-Sadd.
Along with Oscar, Xavi won seven trophies at Al-Sadd, including the league trophy. The duo were in Qatar from July 2019 until November 2021. That was when Xavi took the managerial role at his boyhood club, FC Barcelona. Oscar was right by his brother’s side once again and remains so until today. Oscar was the assistant manager of Xavi at Al-Sadd for 94 games and has played second-fiddle for the Spanish giants for more than 110 games now.