Xavi Hernandez has identified the 5-0 win over Real Madrid as the pinnacle of his Barcelona career. ‘What football, what power.’
The veteran playmaker, widely expected to leave Camp Nou at the end of the season, has spoken to El Periodico, with some of his comments picked up by Marca.
“My idol, when I was small, was Bernd Schuster. When they put me in midfield I was enthralled watching him,” Xavi recalled.
“Then under [former Barca youth coach] Joan Vila, the reference became Pep Guardiola. How he played the ball first time, how he’d slow down, accelerate, how he’d shape to receive the ball, looking in every direction.
“Over time I realised I internalised that movement, to go through life looking in every direction. In a restaurant I like to sit in a corner or against a wall, to get the whole perspective. And on the pitch.
“I wasn’t recognised until 2008, when I’d been in the team for 10 years. If I look through the archive it makes me laugh. They said I was obsolete, that [Edgar] Davids made me look good, that I only passed horizontally, that I was a windscreen wiper…
“The pinnacle match, the absolute best, was the 5-0. There’s nothing like the 5-0, but the 2-6 was also great.
“What football, what power. We had the ball all the time. We lost it and got it back instantly. It was the most sublime football.
“At half time it was 2-0 and Madrid’s heads dropped. We were running to the locker room, wanting to start the second half. We could have scored more.
“We had a desire to beat them because of everything they said about us.”
