The Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez, has claimed he still has the backing of the club, despite dropping out of the Champions League into the Europa League for the second consecutive year.

Xavi replaced Ronald Koeman one year ago and was given over €150 million to spend on transfers in the summer.

He brought in Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, and Raphinha as some of the players he brought in, only to see the team fail in Europe once again.

However, Xavi insists there are enough reasons for Barca to be optimistic.

“There is complete confidence in the project." The expectations are high and it’s not what we hoped for to go out of the Champions League.

“There is no doubt results will come." I have the confidence of the president [Joan Laporta], the board and [directors of football] Mateu [Alemany] and Jordi [Cruyff].

“There is nothing for it but to keep working hard,” Xavi said in a news conference on Friday.