Peter Crouch believes Barcelona will struggle in similar vein to Manchester United once head coach Xavi leaves at the end of the season.

Xavi is currently attempting to progress Barcelona to the Champions League semi-finals despite announcing earlier in the season that he will leave the club in the summer.

The former Nou Camp midfielder returned to take charge in the dugout three-years ago and initially enjoyed success by leading Barcelona to the LaLiga title during his first full season in charge, but has recently opened up on the struggles the pressures of the job brings with it.

Barcelona are desperately attempting to convince Xavi to reverse his decision and Crouch compared his impending exit to Sir Alex Ferguson's at Old Trafford in 2013.

The Scot was the last manager to guide United to the Premier League title during his final year in charge with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag since unable to deliver success in the English top-flight.

Peter Crouch believes Barcelona will struggle in similar vein to Manchester United once head coach Xavi leaves at the end of the season

The two clubs are amongst the biggest in world football with fans demanding trophies every season, but Crouch insisted the pair don't have the same quality as they did in the early 2010s. 

'I think so [Barcelona will struggle without Xavi]. You'll probably find out exactly when he goes when someone comes in and finds out the issues behind the scenes, Crouch told TNT Sports.

'It's so difficult for a manager but the problem  is the name and I think this is similar to Man United when Alex Ferguson left you know it's so hard to it's not the Man United of old now and it's not the Barcelona of old.

'They haven't got the players but there's still people, the expectation is still that they compete at the highest level and they're just not quite there yet,' he added.

Barcelona have not yet named Xavi's successor as they wait to see if he will cancel his departure from the Camp Nou, but the manager is insistent he will leave regardless of what is achieved during the end of season run-in.

Explaining he will step down after Barcelona's 5-3 defeat against Villarreal in January, Xavi said: ‘I’ll go even if we win the Champions League.

‘I decided it some time ago,’ he said of his decision to give up on the possibility of staying on beyond the end of the season.

‘People talk about there being a (Sir Alex) Ferguson at Barcelona but that is impossible at this club,’ he added in a bizarre post-match press conference hinting at a sense of being treated harshly despite leading Barcelona to the league title last season.