Category: World Football

Europa Final at the Aviva

I’m really looking forward to the Europa league final on Wednesday 18th May and I surely hope a Portuguese team gets there and if the FAI, RTE or even the lads on Off the Ball need a translator, I’m your man!

Portugal might be need a bailout but they were flying high in the Europa League tonight with Villa Boas team still unbeaten, Porto win 5-1 against McGeady’s Spartak, Benfica wallop PSV 4-1 and Braga with a excellent draw in Moscow against Dynamo who are coached by another new sensational coach Domingos Paciência he is a former Portuguese International. We could be looking at a Porto V Benfica final (the Biggest Portuguese derby after Sporting V Benfica) Or Even Porto V Sporting Braga (A north of Portugal Derby). Who ever it it Dublin will be buzzing on May the 18th

Man, how I long for European club football in Ireland some day!!!

Could it be an all Portuguese final at the Aviva this year, Portugal helping Ireland out with some much needed tourism…Yes Please!

To often we see a lack of fairplay in games these days and with the pro’s very rarely doing the right thing and a lot cheating at any opportunity its great to hear of stories of great sportsmanship. Kids at all levels should be taught fairplay and proper sportsmanship, it is something that is lacking in the game today. In Barcelona this week, an example of fairplay was shown by an FCB Youth Team.

Youth team fair play gesture

Fair play is one of the key elements which the Barcelona tries to teach its young footballers coming up through the academy system and the Youth B team again showed how the youngsters understand those values in their game against Castelldefels.

In an incident that echoed the gesture the Alevi B team made in 2007, this time it was the Youth B team trained by Sergi Barjuan, who demonstrated that the values of fair play and good sportsmanship are above any sporting success at the Club, as the academy system continues to train and educate not just good footballers, but also good people.

Two points lost, but a valuable lesson learnt

Sergi’s young players came into the 28th week eight points ahead of Espanyol at the top of their league and were looking for a win on Saturday at Castelldefels to take them a little closer to the title. With the game coming to an end and still goalless, Barça’s , Carlos Julio Martínez fired home without realising that the hosts’ keeper was lying injured on the ground. The goal was given as valid, but under instructions from their coach the Youth B team allowed Castelldefels through to score a goal themselves to make up for it.

That was a gesture that lost the team two points and with Espanyol winning allowed their rivals to close in on them, but the bigger lesson learned by the youngsters was once again that fair play is more important that just winning for its own sake.

Echoes of 2007 incident

The gesture was widely covered in the Spanish media since it is unfortunately not often that good sportsmanship outdoes the desire to win in Spain’s number one sport, but this is not the first time a Barça team have shown such an attitude in recent years. In 2007 the Aleví B team, then trained by the current Coordinator of youth football Albert Puig, caught the media’s attention with a similar action. During the game against Espanyol, Barça’s opponents kicked the ball out so that a player could receive treatment, but they didn’t give possession back from the resulting free kick and indeed went on to score. Puig then insisted that his charges allow Espanyol through to score in reply.

That was just one more lesson for the youngsters, and a typical example of how the youth system aims to create not just great players like Messi, Iniesta or Xavi, but also players with the same fair minded attitude.

Research: FCB Site

I’m a die hard Sporting Fan but congrats Andre Villas Boas in the same weekend Jose Mourinho losses his first home game since 2002, Andre with pretty much no football experience at the age of 33 wins the Portuguese league with FC Porto, the youngest coach ever to do so! They are calling him the new Jose Mourinho (actually worked along side him at Porto) who completed his Youth Cert or UEFA C Licence at age 17 in Scotland. Would love to see Porto in the Aviva in May. What a coach!

Porto are in the Europa League Quarter finals & Portuguese Cup Semi Final. He must be the youngest coach ever to win a league from one of the top nations in Europe , let me know of any others?

Guardiola carries heavy weight of expectation, but hunger remains

Barcelona have again been dominant on both domestic and European fronts this season, but sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta knows that the Catalan giants cannot settle for just winning games – they must do so in style.

In an exclusive interview with Revista

The former goalkeeper – who made 301 appearances for Barca – praised the manner in which manager Pep Guardiola goes about his job, and believes that despite the pressure his appetite and passion for the game is as strong as ever.

“The biggest challenge is our own success and meeting the extraordinarily high standards we’ve set ourselves over the past few years,” said the 49-year-old. “It’s not just about winning but the style in which we do it. I remember Johan Cruyff used to say, many years ago that a footballer is like a high jumper who keeps raising the bar. Every time he clears it, the fans demand he raises it another centimetre.

“At the end of the day, the only thing that can keep Guardiola going is his passion for the job, keeping the hope alive and the passionate feeling that bubbles up inside when you walk through the gates of the training ground every day. And of course, it’s a heavy pack that he’s carrying on his back. How long can he keep that up for?

“He’s maintained it ever since the day he joined La Masia when he was 12 years old. He’s still got the energy for it so if we can help him maintain that, it would be a great achievement.”

Concept

But while Guardiola deserves praise for developing such an attractive brand of football, has he now become as important as Barcelona’s philosophy? Zubizarreta doesn’t think so.

He explained: “I think the concept has always been important; that ‘idea’ has already been there, people followed it in the 80s, throughout the ‘Dream Team’ years and well before that, the Barcelona of the ‘five cups’ in the 50s, the era when central European players were key, and the Hungarians who focussed on playing the ball.

“It was once said that the football model that places emphasis on the spectacle couldn’t deliver success, but much of that idea is behind what you see now. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to actually do it; you’ve got to be competitive. You have to go onto the pitch and apply those ideas, continually for 90 minutes, for the whole season, in every competition; that’s always been important.

“With Guardiola, we have both elements covered. The ‘idea’, he knows well because he joined here when he was very young. But on the other hand, he also knows how much hard work it takes to put this idea into practice. And, above all, he’s aware that our rivals will be working very hard to beat us.

“You’ve got to put the work in, because you’re coming up against other teams that will. But this also drives us on, this rivalry, not animosity; I don’t like the term enemy. In football, it is those rivalries, against teams who know all about you, that push you to your best level. This is what sustains our appetite for the game and makes us competitive.”

Research: Sky speaks to Andoni Zubizaretta

Many have described Barcelona‘s 5-0 win over Real Madrid last November as the greatest performance ever. Even Wayne Rooney admits that he stood up in his living room and started applauding.

“Barcelona’s Xavi believes there is no point in playing football unless you pass the ball”

[Xavi’s face lights up]. Yeah? Really? Rooney? That makes me proud. Rooney, wow! Rooney is extraordinary, he could play for Barcelona. And before people imagine headlines like “Xavi says Rooney to join Barcelona” – although, I’d love him to! – what I mean is that he’s our kind of player. That game was wonderful, the best I’ve played. The feeling of superiority was incredible – and against Real Madrid! They didn’t touch the ball. Madre mía, what a match! In the dressing room, we gave ourselves a standing ovation.

You mention Barcelona’s dominance of possession. It’s tempting to conclude that we’ve never seen a team with an identity – for better or worse – as clear as the current Barcelona and Spainteams. It’s all about possession. And that’s your identity – one that seems to have become dominant.

It’s good that the reference point for world football right now is Barcelona, that it’s Spain. Not because it’s ours but because of what it is. Because it’s an attacking football, it’s not speculative, we don’t wait. You pressure, you want possession, you want to attack. Some teams can’t or don’t pass the ball. What are you playing for? What’s the point? That’s not football. Combine, pass, play. That’s football – for me, at least. For coaches, like, I don’t know, [Javier] Clemente or [Fabio] Capello, there’s another type of football. But it’s good that Barcelona’s style is now a model, not that.

But some claimed Spain were boring at the World Cup. You kept winning 1-0.

That’s upside down. It’s not that we were boring, it is the other team that was. What did Holland look for? Penalties. Or [Arjen] Robben on the break. Bam, bam, bam. Of course we were boring – the opposition made it that way. Paraguay? What did they do? Built a spectacularly good defensive system and waited for chances – from dead balls. Up it goes, rebound, loose ball. It’s harder than people realise when you’ve got a guy behind you who’s two metres tall and right on top of you.

So, what’s the solution?

Think quickly, look for spaces. That’s what I do: look for spaces. All day. I’m always looking. All day, all day. [Xavi starts gesturing as if he is looking around, swinging his head]. Here? No. There? No. People who haven’t played don’t always realise how hard that is. Space, space, space. It’s like being on the PlayStation. I think shit, the defender’s here, play it there. I see the space and pass. That’s what I do.

That’s at the heart of the Barcelona model and runs all the way through the club, doesn’t it? When you beat Madrid, eight of the starting XI were youth-team products and all three finalists in this year’s Ballon d’Or were too – Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and you.

Some youth academies worry about winning, we worry about education. You see a kid who lifts his head up, who plays the pass first time, pum, and you think, ‘Yep, he’ll do.’ Bring him in, coach him. Our model was imposed by [Johan] Cruyff; it’s an Ajax model. It’s all about rondos [piggy in the middle]. Rondo, rondo, rondo. Every. Single. Day. It’s the best exercise there is. You learn responsibility and not to lose the ball. If you lose the ball, you go in the middle. Pum-pum-pum-pum, always one touch. If you go in the middle, it’s humiliating, the rest applaud and laugh at you.

Your Barcelona team-mate Dani Alves said that you don’t play to the run, you make the run by obliging team-mates to move into certain areas. “Xavi,” he said, “plays in the future.”

They make it easy. My football is passing but, wow, if I have Dani, Iniesta, Pedro, [David] Villa … there are so many options. Sometimes, I even think to myself: man, so-and-so is going to get annoyed because I’ve played three passes and haven’t given him the ball yet. I’d better give the next one to Dani because he’s gone up the wing three times. When Leo [Messi] doesn’t get involved, it’s like he gets annoyed … and the next pass is for him.

You’re talking about style over success but not only can they go together, they have to go together, don’t they? Arsenal play great football, Arsène Wenger is a hugely respected coach, but they’ve not won anything for years. Could that happen at Barcelona?

Almost impossible. If you go two years without winning, everything has to change. But you change names, not identity. The philosophy can’t be lost. Our fans wouldn’t understand a team that sat back and played on the break. Sadly, people only look at teams through success. Now, success has validated our approach. I’m happy because, from a selfish point of view, six years ago I was extinct; footballers like me were in danger of dying out. It was all: two metres tall, powerful, in the middle, knockdowns, second balls, rebounds … but now I see Arsenal and Villarreal and they play like us.

Do you see yourself as a defender of the faith? An ideologue?

It was that or die. I’m a romantic. I like the fact that talent, technical ability, is valued above physical condition now. I’m glad that’s the priority; if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be the same spectacle. Football is played to win but our satisfaction is double. Other teams win and they’re happy, but it’s not the same. The identity is lacking. The result is an impostor in football. You can do things really, really well – last year we were better than Inter Milan – but did not win. There’s something greater than the result, more lasting. A legacy. Inter won the Champions League but no one talks about them. People discovered me since Euro 2008, but I’ve been playing the same way for years. It is true, though, that I have grown in confidence and tranquillity. And that comes with success.

Has English football suffered because it embraces a different footballing culture?

It has changed; the style’s a bit more technical. But before it was direct, it was about the second ball, the typical No9 was a Crouch or a Heskey and there was no football. Carragher, boom, up top; Terry, boom, up top. I think it’s changing: Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick … they are players who treat the ball well. You see them now and think, Christ, they are trying to play.

Is Paul Scholes the English Xavi?

[Xavi interrupts, almost bursting with enthusiasm] Paul Scholes! A role model. For me – and I really mean this – he’s the best central midfielder I’ve seen in the last 15, 20 years. I’ve spoken to Xabi Alonso about him. He’s spectacular, he has it all: the last pass, goals, he’s strong, he doesn’t lose the ball, vision. If he’d been Spanish he might have been rated more highly. Players love him.

England seems to mistrust technical players.

It’s a pity. Talent has to be the priority. Technical ability. Always, always. Sure, you can win without it but it’s talent that makes the difference. Look at the teams: Juventus, who makes the difference? Krasic. Del Piero. Liverpool? Gerrard, or Torres before. Talento. Talento. When you look at players and ask yourself who’s the best: talento. Cesc, Nasri, Ryan Giggs – that guy is a joy, incredible. Looking back, I loved John Barnes and Chris Waddle was buenísimo. [Open-mouthed, eyes gleaming] Le Tissier! Although their style was different I liked Roy Keane and Paul Ince together, too. That United team was great – my English team. If I’d gone anywhere, it would have been there.

In England do we overrate physical players? You mention Carragher, Terry …

Whoa! Wait! Be careful. They’re fundamental. We’ve got Puyol. Technically he might not be the best but it’s incredible the way he defends. Carragher and Terry are necessary, brilliant, but they have to adapt to technical football [not the other way round]. For me, that comes naturally – or for Messi, Iniesta or Rooney. Others have to work at it. For them it’s harder to lift their head up and play a pass – but they have to.

But when a player is offered to a club, the first question is: “how tall is he?”

Have you seen [the Villarreal winger] Santi Cazorla? You think I’m small, he’s up to here on me [Xavi signals his chest]. And yet he’s brilliant. Messi is the same and he’s the best player in the world. Maybe it’s the culture, I don’t know, but in England you’re warriors. You watch Liverpool and Carragher wins the ball and boots it into the stands and the fans applaud. There’s a roar! They’d never applaud that here.

Next week you play Arsenal again in the Champions League last 16. Are they different? A kind of Barcelona-lite?

Arsenal are a great team. When I watch Arsenal, I see Barça. I see Cesc carry the game, Nasri, Arshavin. The difference between them and us is we have more players who think before they play, quicker. Education is the key. Players have had 10 or 12 years here. When you arrive at Barça the first thing they teach you is: think. Think, think, think. Quickly. [Xavi starts doing the actions, looking around himself.] Lift your head up, move, see, think. Look before you get the ball. If you’re getting this pass, look to see if that guy is free. Pum. First time. Look at [Sergio] Busquets – the best midfielder there is playing one-touch. He doesn’t need more. He controls, looks and passes in one touch. Some need two or three and, given how fast the game is, that’s too slow. Alves, one touch. Iniesta, one touch. Messi, one touch. Piqué, one touch. Busi [Busquets], me … seven or eight players with one touch. Fast. In fact, [the youth coach] Charly [Rexach] always used to say: a mig toc. Half a touch.

Arsenal-Barcelona always provokes questions about Cesc Fábregas’s future.

If I’d ever gone to another club, I’d have been thinking about Barcelona – the link is strong. The same is happening to him. But now there’s a problem: now he’s expensive. But I think that a footballer ends up playing where he wants. He has to end up here.

That’s not what Arsenal fans want to hear and some have accused Barcelona players, you included, of stirring trouble. Last summer there were so many remarks supposedly coming out of Barcelona …

Really? I hardly spoke then. I imagine they wouldn’t have liked that. [Xavi pauses, adding quietly, almost shamefacedly] You know, often footballers don’t think. We’re selfish, we don’t realise. I also say it because I’m thinking of Cesc. He wants to come here. Barcelona has always been his dream. But of course he’s Arsenal’s captain, the standard bearer, a leader. This situation is a putada [bummer] for him. He’s at a club that plays his style with Wenger who has treated him well, taught him, raised him. Cesc respects him. If he’d been at, say, Blackburn it might have been easier to leave. Look, the truth is: I want him to come here. Of course. Barcelona have a very clear style and not many footballers fit. It’s not easy. But Cesc fits it perfectly.

Would he replace you, though?

I don’t see new players as a threat; I don’t say “this is my patch”. I’m more: “bring them here, let them play”. The more talent in the middle, the better. Four or five years ago [people said] me and Iniesta couldn’t play together. We can’t play together? Look how that one turned out.

Last year, you beat Arsenal comfortably …

Yes, but this year they’re much better. I think it’s a disadvantage for us that we played last year. They had [too] much respect for us. It was as if they let us have the ball; we always had it, home and away. The game in London could have been a 4-0 we dominated so much – but it finished 2-2. This year will be different.

What was your reaction to the draw?

I was happy. I like the fact that we’ll see a great game. Arsenal aren’t the kind of team that come to try to putear you [piss you off, break up the game, destroy the match]. If it was Chelsea, you might think Madre mía, they’re going to leave the initiative to you, wait deep, close up, play on the break with Drogba and Malouda. But, no, I think Arsenal will want the ball. There will be more of a game. As a fan I’d definitely pay for a ticket to see this game. Manchester United or Chelsea would play in a more speculative way. They would leave us the ball. Arsenal won’t.

Does English football attract you? Spanish players always return from there raving about it.

It’s incredible. Una pasada. Now that is football. England really is the birthplace, the heart and soul of football. If Barcelona had Liverpool’s fans, or Arsenal’s, or United’s, we’d have won 20 Champions Leagues, hahaha! OK, so that’s an exaggeration but I’ve never seen anything like it. We won 3-1 at Liverpool once and we were both applauded off the pitch. In England, footballers are respected more, the game is more noble, there’s less cheating. Every Spaniard who goes loves it – and comes back a better player. If I had ever left it would have been to England.

The final is at Wembley, which makes it even more special for Barcelona, doesn’t it? Last year it was special because it was at the Bernabéu but Wembley is the scene of the Dream Team’s one European Cup. And this feels like a year in which you are being constantly compared to them …

In 1992, I was 12 and my brothers went but my parents wouldn’t let me. I was in tears but it made no difference. I’d love to play at Wembley. It’s special for Barça – and for everyone in football. Last year was moremorbosa [about the rivalry with Real Madrid, almost a little dirty, titillating]. This year is more nostalgic, more classic. And I’m more of a nostalgic. Me? I’m a romantic.

Club career

Joined Barcelona’s youth system at the age of 11 and made a scoring first-team debut aged 18 in the 1998 Spanish Super Cup final. He has made 557 appearances for the club, scoring 56 goals.

Games/goals

1997-2000 Barcelona B 61/4

1998- Barcelona 557/56

Honours

2 Champions Leagues 2006, 2009

1 Club World Cup 2009

5 La Liga titles 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010

1 Spanish Cup 2009

4 Spanish Super Cup 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010

1 Uefa Super Cup 2009

International career

Represented every Spain youth team from Under-17 to Under-23 level, making his senior debut in 2000 at age 20. He has scored eight goals in 99 appearances. He has also scored twice in eight matches for Catalonia

Games/goals

Spain 99/8

Catalonia 8/2

Honours

1 World Cup 2010

1 European Championship 2008

1 Under-20 World Cup 1999

Olympic silver medal 2000

Individual career

The world’s best playmaker, he completed 104 passes more than the next most prolific passer at last year’s World Cup which Spain won. He has made more assists than any other player in the past two La Liga and Champions League seasons

Awards

European Championship player of the tournament 2008

Champions League final man of the match 2009

Fifa World Cup All-Star Team 2010

Fifa Team of the Year 2008, 2009, 2010

Uefa Team of the Year 2008, 2009, 2010

Third place in Ballon d’Or 2009, 2010

La Liga Player of the Year 2005

This Article was written by Sid Lowe

The Guardian, Friday 11 February 2011

This is a great interview with Xavi Hernandez, the differences between English and Spanish football; you just can even begin to compare. English Football at early ages is all about win, win, win. Spanish is all about development and keep, keep, keep the ball!

Xavi Hernandez had given a man-of-the-match performance against Germany, and Spain were two minutes from reaching the World Cup final when the referee in last year’s semi-final asked him if he could have his shirt after the game. ‘If you blow the whistle a minute early, it’s yours,’ he replied.

On the verge of reaching the pinnacle of his career, the final where he would complete his full house of major honours, the sorcerer supreme of Barcelona and Spain’s magical midfields, the most unassuming of world beaters, still wasn’t taking things too seriously.

Listening to him talk about his English football heroes ahead of next week’s visit to London, it’s obvious the sport he loves and demystifies so eloquently is still, first and foremost, just a game to him — one which he and his pals just happen to play better than anybody else in the world.

His face lights up first when he is told the story of Wayne Rooney getting up from his couch to give Barca a one-man standing ovation in his living room as he watched them beat Real Madrid 5-0 last November, and then when he reels off the names of his current Premier League favourites.

‘Rooney, Scholes, Cesc (Fabregas), Nasri and Giggs,’ he says, adding: ‘I was also a big fan of John Barnes, Chris Waddle and Matt Le Tissier. And although it is a different style, I liked the Paul Ince and Roy Keane partnership Manchester United had. They would have been my team had I moved to England.’

Paul Scholes receives special praise: ‘In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen — the most complete — is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything.

THE GAMES… THE GOALS…

THE GLORY…

Full name: Xavier Hernandez i Creus.

Age: 31.

Position: Midfielder.

Club: Barcelona (Debut: 1998;

557 appearances; 56 goals).

Club Honours: 5 x La Liga (1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010); Copa Del Rey (2009);

2 x Champions League (2006, 2009); European Super Cup (’09); FIFA Club World Cup (’09).

Country: Spain (Debut 2000: 98 caps; 12 goals).

National Honours: Euro 2008; World Cup 2010.

Personal Honours: 2 x Ballon d’Or 3rd place (09, 10); Euro 2008 Player of the Tournament.

‘He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more.’

Xavi won the World Cup aged 30, one year older than Scholes when he retired from international football feeling undervalued by the then England coach Sven Goran Eriksson.

So why is the pass master, so revered in Spain, often discarded in England? For Xavi it starts in the stands with the difference between English and Spanish football culture.

‘You are a nation of warriors,’ he says. ‘If I go to Liverpool’s ground and someone puts the ball into the area and Carragher hammers it out of play then the fans applaud. In the Nou Camp you would never be applauded for that.

‘It’s a different culture that values different things. Here if they see you are afraid when you are in possession then you get whistled. It’s the world in reverse.

‘I do see it changing slightly. Before, the typical No 9 in England was a Crouch or a Heskey and it was a long ball from the back from a Terry or a Carragher and nothing in between.’

So a shift in emphasis is needed but it shouldn’t come completely at the expense of the traditional uncompromising English centre half, says Xavi.

‘I don’t want to be misunderstood. I have huge admiration for both Terry and Carragher. We have (Carles) Puyol here. Technically he is not the best player in the squad but he is a great defender. Players like Terry and Carragher are very necessary but they have to adapt to the team as opposed to the team adapting to them. In some ways what these players do has even more merit because to me it comes naturally.

‘For Iniesta, Messi and Rooney it comes naturally, but for them it is much more difficult to lift the head and play a pass. But they should have to adapt to the more technically gifted players, not the other way around.’

A ‘skill -over- strength’ revolution is mooted every time England fail at a World Cup, but Xavi says a radical overhaul of values would mean nothing unless it started at kids’ level.

‘You have to find the players who have the technical ability right from the off as Barcelona do,’ he says.

‘Other teams look for young players who are tall, big and strong. There are teams here in Catalunya who at the under 10s level will beat Barca’s under 10s.

‘But from that Barca under 10s team you will end up getting three footballers and from the under 10s of the other team not even one will make it. They are already thinking about winning instead of unearthing the technically gifted players which is Barcelona’s priority.

‘You spot a youngster who can lift his head and play a first-time pass and you think, “He’s worth something, let’s have him come and train with us”.’

The fact that the Barca philosophy is drilled into players before they are even teenagers is what then gives Barcelona the edge over other sides who attempt to play the same way.

‘Watching Arsenal is almost like watching Barca. Everything goes through Cesc and Nasri,’ says Xavi.

‘But the difference is that at Arsenal each player is a product of whatever youth system he came through. Here we have players who have been at the club for 10 or 12 years and that is the difference — everything comes automatically.

ON THE ENGLISH WAY

‘You are a nation of warriors. Carragher and Terry are your equal to Carles Puyol’

ON THE BARCELONA WAY

‘From the age of 10, they make you think of the shame of losing the ball’

ON BEATING REAL 5-0

‘They hardly touched the ball, and we stood in the dressing room clapping ourselves for a minute’

‘Here they make you think from day one. The first thing you do when you join this club is rondo (the passing drill with one player trying to win the ball back and three or four players passing one-touch between themselves). It’s think, think, think, and it teaches you the responsibility of keeping the ball and the shame of losing it.

‘You lift your head before you receive the ball, you look to see if you are in space, and who else is in space, and you play the ball first time. Modern football is so quick that two touches means too slow.’

Arsenal remain the closest thing to Barcelona in English football, but their Barca-Lite tag is a generous one after six years without a trophy. Would such a drought be tolerated at the Nou Camp?

‘If you go two years without winning things here then you have to change everything,’ says Xavi. ‘But you change the people, not the ideology. The philosophy you can’t ever lose. The fans here are not going to understand a team that sits back and plays on the counter-attack.’

Back in 2008 Barcelona had gone two years without winning anything and rumours circulated that Xavi might be part of a clear-out.

‘When Ronaldinho and Deco left there was talk of “Sell Xavi to help us bring Cesc”, but along came Pep (Guardiola) and he said that he did not see a Barcelona without me. That was the end of it.’

Next week’s opponents, Arsenal, may well have been his most suitable destination although he believes he would have adapted to any team and thrived with the passion of Premier League crowds.

‘I have never seen anything like the supporters there. We won 3-1 at Liverpool once and we were applauded off the pitch, and Liverpool were as well. All the players who go to England to play come back saying wonderful things about it, the fans, the people. I think I would have liked it.’

Xavi stayed in 2008 and after Guardiola’s Barcelona took just one point from their first two games they won their third handsomely and went on to win an unprecedented six out of six trophies.

‘Who knows what would have happened if we had drawn that third game. They might have said, “This guy can’t carry on”. But I knew straightaway that Pep would be successful. He would be a success anywhere in the world,’ says Xavi. ‘Intelligence is being able to adapt to anything and Pep is very intelligent.

‘Normally a coach needs two or three years — he is a one-off. When we signed him I just thought, “Madre mia, we are going to go off like a shot”. He is so persistent.

‘If he was a musician he would be a very good musician, if he was a psychologist, he would be a very good psychologist. He expects the maximum from himself and that rubs off on others.’

And it’s the football demanded by Guardiola and not just the results garnered by it that Xavi is so enamoured with.

‘We go out from the first moment looking for the ball and looking to put pressure on the opposition. If you are not going to pass the ball then why play the game. That is not football in my opinion.

‘For another coach — someone like (Javier) Clemente or (Fabio) Capello — they may have another idea of football but it is good that the Barcelona idea works. What were Holland looking for in the World Cup final? A Robben counter-attack? Penalties? We won a lot of games 1-0 but it was the opposition that were boring, not us.’

The smothering tactics used by the Dutch are copied, with less and less success, every week in La Liga but Xavi has learned to live with the close attention.

‘I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I’m always between the opposition’s two holding midfielders and thinking, “The defence is here so I get the ball and I go there to where the space is”.’

His team-mates make it easy for him, he says. ‘My job is to pass the ball, and I have Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Villa and Alves all showing for passes. It gets to the point where I think they are going to get annoyed with me because I have played three passes without giving the ball to Messi or that Alves has gone forward three times and I have not given it to him once. When Messi is not in the game he switches off!’

The gap that Barcelona have now created between themselves and the rest was never so obvious as in November last year with that 5-0 win over Real Madrid so appreciated by Rooney.

‘It is a source of great pride that an extraordinary player like Rooney, someone who could play perfectly well in Barcelona’s system, feels that way,’ says Xavi.

‘The 5-0 was the best game I have ever played in. There are more important games like the World Cup final but the feeling of superiority was incredible — it is one thing to have it against another team but against Real Madrid? They hardly touched the ball. We gave ourselves a minute’s round of applause in the dressing room afterwards.’

Last year the Champions League held special importance for Barcelona precisely because the final was to be played at the home of their great rivals. This year Wembley provides the added spice. ‘It is all about nostalgia. Getting to the final is great wherever it is played but Wembley is special,’ says Xavi. ‘It’s special for everybody in football but for Barcelona more so because of our first European Cup.’

And to close, he recalls that night 19 years ago when Barcelona first held the trophy aloft. ‘I was only 12 years old and I was not allowed to go to London. My two brothers went and I cried to my parents but they said I was too young. I remember watching the (Ronald) Koeman goal at home on television. If we can get there again this time I will be able to make up for that.’

Thanks to Paul Jenson of the Mail Online for this Article