Xavi Hernandes has had a career that can’t be measured in trophies
Even before his farewell game against Juventus in the Champions League final, tributes and plaudits have been flooding in this week for the 35-year-old who has announced he will be moving to Qatari side Al-Saad next season.
That’s not surprising, because it is hard to think of any player who has had the impact on a single club the Spanish international has enjoyed since he first pulled on the Blaugrana first team kit in 1998, having begun his association with the La Liga giants aged just 11.
You could reference Ryan Giggs at Manchester United, who began at Old Trafford at a similar age and won 25 major trophies; or Paolo Maldini at Milan who stayed 24 years and lifted 26. Both legends of course; but neither had quite the same influence on the style and personality of their respective teams – or on football tactics in general — that Xavi has done.
VISIT OUR SPORTS HOME PAGE HERE
There’s an argument that without Xavi there would have been no tiki-taka at Camp Nou, no inexorable rise of the Spanish national team, no shift in football from physicality to technicality, no heartbeat to a team that went on to conquer the world in such style.
“Football is played to win, but our satisfaction has to be double,” Xavi once said in 2011. “Other teams win and are happy, but it’s not the same. The identity is lacking. In football the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There’s something greater than the result, more lasting – a legacy.”
Xavi has certainly given Barcelona that, and not just in the victories that he inspired but in the way in which he did it, in the beautifully efficient, skilful way in which he ran the greatest midfield in football with both vision and precision.
Much has been said over the years about his style of play but Julen Lopetegui, coach of Spain’s U19s, U20s and U21s between 2010 and 2014, perhaps explained his contribution best.
“Xavi changed football,” he said. “He helped us to build, or to see, a new player profile that ended up running through all levels of the national team. He killed off the myth of physicality being above all else and opened people’s eyes to the qualities of small, technical players, proving that you can attack and also defend with the ball.
“There are lots of players who win things, but few who lay down concepts, ideas, who change the way we think, and Xavi did that. At club level, the idea already existed and he perfected it; at international level, he imposed it. Possession, the speed of pass. He made it simple, and that’s difficult. The intensity with which he played was vital and it showed that intensity is not what people often think it is.
“It’s the rhythm of the game, the speed and intensity of the play itself: quick, simple, constant. He made every other player better.” Few players in any era can claim that kind of influence, an impact which stretched beyond international boundaries and touched coaches all over the world; but now even Xavi has seen time catch up with him and heads for Berlin knowing he has one last chance to put an extra shine on an already glittering legacy.
“For me this final is a very special match very because this is my goodbye after many years in Barcelona. I have always lived at this club and now I have to leave home,” he said. “So my dream is to play and win the Champions League one last time. It will be an amazing sensation if we do it. Normally I am a man with a very calm character. But if everything goes well in Berlin it will be very emotional. I’m sure the tears will come.” In fact Xavi has already been in tears this week, in a tribute press conference on Wednesday, and it’s hard to imagine there will be many dry eyes in the house if Barca give him the perfect send-off by beating Juve in his farewell appearance; after all so many people at the club, including players such as Andres Iniesta, have spent almost their entire careers with the midfielder at their side. There is more than just a European Cup at stake, too, because Barca have already won La Liga and the Spanish Cup, so an historic treble is there for the taking.
“That’s a big incentive,” said Xavi. “Barcelona have had some difficult moments this season but we have reacted in the right way to win La Liga and to reach two other finals. Already we have two titles and that makes the season a success but now the challenge is to win the last game.
“Every year our dream is to win three competitions and to dedicate it to our supporters. That’s our mission every season and this year it’s possible.”
However, Xavi is still waiting to hear if he will make the starting XI in Berlin, and Barca are certainly favourites to deliver it; but the midfielder is taking nothing for granted.
He added: “People say we are favourites but Juve are the champions of Italy and have a tremendous squad. The danger is everywhere – look at the quality of their players. Buffon, Vidal, Pirlo, Tevez, Llorente, Morata. It’s a super team that is capable of beating us.
“For me it’s 50-50 but I am always optimistic. We need to concentrate from the very first minute.”
Whatever happens, however, win or lose, Xavi is adamant his Barca dream will conclude tomorrow — or at least until he inevitably returns in a coaching capacity one day — and it will be time to think about the future.
“In football there is always a time to go and mine is now,” he said. “It’s going to be emotional but I am also very attracted to a new adventure in Qatar. It’s a different world with many challenges.” Some of those challenges may not be quite what Xavi expects; because in this week of all weeks a role as ambassador for the 2022 World Cup comes with something of a health warning. Now, rather than at retirement, is the most suitable time to celebrate what he has given football. It’s a career that should be counted in a currency even more valuable than silverware; but one which nevertheless deserves a trophy to sign it off.
VISIT OUR SPORTS HOME PAGE HERE
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
