Xavi Hernandez believes he owed it to Barcelona to ensure he departed for Qatar on a high.
The midfielder was close to leaving Camp Nou last summer after a trophyless 2013-14 but stayed one more season and was vindicated as the side lifted their second treble, and he admits their success made his departure that little bit easier to swallow.
“Imagine last year, leaving without titles, no euphoria…” he said in his final interview with Barca Magazine.
“Not to take anything away from our football, but we know that when Barca don’t win, we have to get rid of 10 players, everyone is angry … imagine having to make a farewell with the people upset.
“Now people are euphoric, happy, content, it just so happened that we won the League a week early so I could do the tribute at home.
“The truth is that it is a custom-made script made and I’m very glad I stayed one more year, that [Andoni] Zubizarreta, Luis [Enrique] and President [Josep Maria] Bartomeu convinced me, because I knew I had to leave at some point and I am very stubborn, but they convinced me in two or three meetings, so now I am very happy.”
