Barça are confident that Xavi Pascual will want to lead the rebuilding process

BarcelonaBarça wants Xavi Pascual to be the head coach of their basketball team. The coach, with whom Juan Carlos Navarro spoke, is receptive, but demands a long-term contract and decision-making power when building the roster. The Catalan, who had committed to giving a talk with the Catalan Federation, is currently living in Gavà. His priority is to return to the EuroLeague, but Anadolu Efes is also interested in acquiring his services. Pascual arrived at Barça in the 2004-05 season as coach of the EBA League team and coordinator of the youth teams, but in 2005-06, he was the assistant coach of Barça's first team, working under Dusko Ivanovic. As head coach of the first team, he spent eight seasons at the club, from 2008 to 2016, winning four league titles, three Copa del Rey trophies, three Spanish Super Cups, five Catalan League titles, and in 2010, a EuroLeague title, his greatest achievement. His departure coincided with that of Joan Creus, then sporting director. Panathinaikos and Zenit Saint Petersburg were Pascual's next sporting challenges, though he has always been linked with a return to Barça. "After Roger Grimau, there were approaches, but they didn't turn into any concrete offers. They asked me if I was available," Pascual explained in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio. Òscar Orellana, who has spent half his life at the club, will be the interim coach leading the Barça team this Wednesday against Bayern Munich. The coach will hold a press conference this Tuesday at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training complex in Sant Joan Despí. The Barça team plays again on Friday and Sunday, hosting Virtus Bologna and Baskonia at the Palau Blaugrana.

Barça sacked Joan Peñarroya on Sunday and, despite budget constraints, is accelerating its options to strengthen its frontcourt while negotiating the departure of Miles Norris. The power forward has yet to make his Liga Endesa debut and has only played 55.54 minutes across seven EuroLeague games, averaging 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds. The budget cuts significantly impacted the team's composition, preventing them from reaching the Catalan League final and resulting in eight losses between the EuroLeague and Liga Endesa. After two very poor seasons and with an economic climate that doesn't allow for major investments, Barça's basketball section needs to reinvent itself. The major problem is that the Blaugrana club cannot compete with the large European budgets, but neither can it replicate the strategy implemented in football, where cash limitations led to a greater emphasis on young players.

The sections have increased revenue with new strategies to generate resources, but the headache that complicates their puzzle is that their numbers, which are in deficit, count towards thefair playThe economics of the football league. "More value with less investment." This is the difficult formula that Barça is trying to implement to ensure that its professional multi-sport sections remain competitive at a much lower cost. Joan Laporta's task has been entrusted to Xavier O'Callaghan, who was appointed director of professional sports a few months ago.