Xavi Pascual (basketball)

Xavier Pascual i Vives, commonly known as Xavi Pascual, (born 9 September 1972) is a Spanish professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of FC Barcelona of the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. On 9 May 2010 he became the youngest head coach to win the EuroLeague championship (only counting the Euroleague Basketball Company era, since the year 2000), and soon after, he also won the EuroLeague Coach of the Year Award.

Xavi Pascual

Pascual in 2024
FC Barcelona
Position	Head coach
League	Liga ACB EuroLeague
Personal information
Born	(1972-09-09) 9 September 1972 (age 53) L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
Coaching career	1990–present
Career history
Coaching
1990–1991	CB Gavà
1995–1997	Cornellà (assistant)
1997–1999	CB Santfeliuenc
1999–2001	CB Olesa
2001–2004	CB Aracena
2004–2005	FC Barcelona B
2005–2008	FC Barcelona (assistant)
2008–2016	FC Barcelona
2016–2018	Panathinaikos
2020–2025	Zenit
2025–present	FC Barcelona
Career highlights
As head coach: EuroLeague champion (2010) VTB United League champion (2022) 4× Liga ACB champion (2009, 2011, 2012, 2014) 2× Greek League champion (2017, 2018) 7× Catalan League champion (2009–2015) 3× Copa del Rey winner (2010, 2011, 2013) Greek Cup winner (2017) 4× Spanish Supercup winner (2009–2011, 2015) 2× VTB United League Supercup winner (2022, 2023) EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2010) 3× AEEB Spanish Coach of the Year (2009–2011) 4× Liga ACB Coach of the Year (2010–2012, 2016) 2× Greek League Coach of the Year (2017, 2018) VTB United League Coach of the Year (2021) Russian Basketball Cup (2024)

Coaching career

Early years

The first team Pascual coached was Gavà (1990–91). Other teams that he coached early in his career were: Cornellà, Santfeliuenc, Olesa, and Aracena.^[1]

FC Barcelona

In the 2004–05 season, Pascual moved to FC Barcelona, where he became the head coach of FC Barcelona Bàsquet B, the club's Liga EBA (Spanish 4th Division) reserve team.^[2]

In the following, 2005–06 season, he became the assistant head coach of the Spanish 1st Division team of FC Barcelona. After the team and then head coach Duško Ivanović parted ways in 2008, Pascual became the club's head coach. On 21 September 2012, Pascual extended his contract with Barcelona, until the end of 2014–15 season.^[3] On 3 February 2015, he extended his contract with Barcelona, until the end of the 2016–17 season.^[4]

After the 2015–16 season, in which Barcelona failed to win the Spanish ACB League, and was eliminated in the EuroLeague's quarterfinal playoffs, Pascual was fired.^[5]

Panathinaikos

On 22 October 2016, Pascual signed a three-year contract to be the head coach of the Greek Basket League team Panathinaikos.^[6][7] In domestic competition, Pascual led the Greens to back-to-back Greek League titles, in 2017 and 2018, and was named the league's best coach for both seasons. On 20 December 2018 Panathinaikos dismissed Pascual after he had spent two seasons with the club, bringing the Greens to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs in both, but failing to bring them back to the Final Four.^[6]

Zenit Saint Petersburg

In February 2020, Pascual took over as the head coach of Zenit Saint Peterburg of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague. Replacing fellow Catalan Joan Plaza on the job, he initially signed until the end of the season.^[8] After turning around the team's negative record in the 2020-21 EuroLeague and managing to qualify for the Euroleague Playoffs for the first time in club history, Pascual signed a contract extension for two more seasons in April 2021.^[9] The following season, Pascual led Zenit to its first major title, the 2021-22 VTB United League.^[10] Pascual extended his contract with Zenit twice in the following seasons, finding success winning two consecutive Supercups (2022 and 2023) and a Russian Cup (2024).^[11][12] His tenure at Zenit finally ended in June 2025, after five seasons and four trophies won with the Russians.^[13]

Return to FC Barcelona

After the dismissal of Joan Peñarroya during the 2025–26 season, Pascual was announced as the new FC Barcelona coach on 13 November 2025, returning 9 years after his previous stint.^[14] On 17 October 2025, he signed his new contract in the presence of club president Joan Laporta. The contract tied Pascual to the Catalans until 2028.^[15]

Coaching record

Legend
G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss %

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Result
FC Barcelona	2007–08	9	4	5	.444	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	2008–09	23	18	5	.783	Won in 3rd place game
	2009–10	22	20	2	.909	Won EuroLeague Championship
	2010–11	20	14	6	.700	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	2011–12	21	19	2	.905	Won in 3rd place game
	2012–13	31	25	6	.806	Lost in 3rd place game
	2013–14	29	23	6	.793	Won in 3rd place game
	2014–15	28	21	7	.750	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	2015–16	29	16	13	.552	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
Panathinaikos	2016–17	30	19	11	.633	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	2017–18	34	20	14	.588	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
	2018–19	13	6	7	.462	Fired
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2020–21	39	22	17	.564	Eliminated in Quarterfinal Playoffs
Career		330	229	101	.694

Honours

CB Aracena

• LEB 2 (Spanish 3rd Division) (1): 2002–03
• Lliga Catalana LEB (Catalan 2nd Division) (1): 2003–04

FC Barcelona

• Liga ACB (Spanish League) (4): 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14
• Spanish Cup (3): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13
• EuroLeague (1): 2009–10
• Spanish Supercup (4): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015
• Lliga Catalana (Catalan League) (7): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Panathinaikos

• Greek League (2): 2016–17, 2017–18
• Greek Cup (1): 2016–17

Individual

• 4× Spanish League Coach of the Year: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2015–16
• 3× AEEB Spanish Coach of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2011
• EuroLeague Coach of the Year: 2009–10
• 2× Greek League Best Coach: 2016–17, 2017-18

See also

• List of EuroLeague-winning head coaches