Xavi (footballer, born 1980)
Xavier Hernández Creus, commonly known as Xavi 'Hernández or simply Xavi', is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed La Liga club Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi was renowned for his exceptional passing and vision. He is the all-time Spanish top assist provider in the UEFA Champions League with 30 assists. He spent most of his playing career at Barcelona and is one of the few players to make over 1,000 professional career appearances.
Xavi joined La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11 and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998, age 18. For Barcelona, he played 767 official matches, a former club record—now held by Lionel Messi—and scored 85 goals. With the initial management guidance by Pep Guardiola and using the tiki-taka football philosophy, Xavi was part of a widely lauded midfield combination trio with Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets; from 2008 to 2015 the trio together were instrumental in Barcelona's exceptional on-field successes in 7 seasons, winning five La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey titles and three Champions League titles, including two continental trebles in 2008–09 and 2014–15. Xavi was the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. In 2015, he left Barcelona for Al Sadd, where he won four trophies before retiring in 2019.
With Spain, Xavi won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999, and the Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. He made his senior team debut in 2000 and he was capped 133 times for Spain. Xavi played an integral role in Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup win, as well as their UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012 victories. He was named Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2008 and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 and 2012. With two assists in the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, Xavi became the first player to make assists in two separate European finals. After the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football.
Xavi came third place in both the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA Ballon d'Or, followed by third place in the Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, he was runner up to Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Xavi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in 2012. He was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award four consecutive times from 2008 to 2011. He was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI six times from 2008 to 2013, and in the UEFA Team of the Year five times from 2008 to 2012. In 2020, Xavi was named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI published by France Football.
After retirement, Xavi transitioned to management. In May 2019, he became manager of Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd, where he won seven trophies in less than three years. In November 2021, Xavi was appointed as manager at his former club Barcelona. He won the 2023 Supercopa de España title and the 2022–23 La Liga title in his first full season as the club's manager.
Early life
Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Xavi is a product of FC Barcelona's La Masia youth system, which he joined at the age of 11 from UFB Jàbac Terrassa and Terrassa FC. His father, Joaquim, was a former player for Sabadell in the first division. His older brother, Óscar, is a former player and manager. Xavi made his way through the youth and reserve teams and was a key member of Josep Maria Gonzalvo's Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Second Division.Although he was initially inspired by compatriot playmaker Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, as a child Xavi also watched a lot of English football, and looked up to midfielders John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne and Matt Le Tissier.
Club career
Barcelona
1998–2001: Beginnings
Xavi's progression through the teams earned him a first-team appearance in a Copa Catalunya match against Lleida on 5 May 1998 and he scored his first goal on 18 August 1998 in the 1998 Supercopa de España against Mallorca. His debut in La Liga came against Valencia on 3 October 1998 in a 3–1 victory for Barcelona. Initially featuring intermittently both for the reserve and senior teams, Xavi scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Real Valladolid when Barcelona were in tenth position in the league. Sustained impressive performances meant that he became a key member of Louis van Gaal's title-winning team, finishing his debut season with 26 matches played and being named 1999 La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year. Xavi became Barcelona's principal playmaker after an injury to Pep Guardiola in the 1999–2000 season.2001–2008: Breakthrough and vice-captaincy
In these years, Barcelona was on the verge of bankruptcy and struggling to keep its place in La Liga's elite. Playing midfield, but in a more defensive role, Xavi made 20 assists and scored 7 goals in those two seasons. On 16 March 2002, he scored his first goal in El Clásico against Real Madrid.Xavi was named the vice-captain in the 2004–05 season, in which he helped Barcelona win La Liga. He was named La Liga Spanish Player of the Year in 2005.
In the 2005–06 season, Xavi tore the ligaments in his left knee in training; he was out of action for four months but returned in April and was on the substitutes bench for Barcelona's win in the 2006 Champions League Final against Arsenal. He also won La Liga and the Supercopa de España.
2008–2012: Sustained domestic and European success
After being named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2008, Xavi spoke to Bayern Munich about a transfer, but newly appointed Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola convinced him that he was too important to the club to be allowed to leave. He was a main part of Barcelona's treble and scored the fourth goal in the 4–1 win in the 2009 Copa del Rey Final against Athletic Bilbao, with a free kick. In La Liga, one of his most significant games was the 6–2 Clásico victory over Real Madrid on 2 May; he assisted four goals – once to Carles Puyol, once to Thierry Henry and twice to Lionel Messi.Xavi helped Barcelona win the 2009 Champions League Final 2–0 against Manchester United, assisting the second goal by crossing to Messi for his header. Prior to the match, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson heaped praise on the central midfield combination of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, stating, "I don't think Xavi and Iniesta have ever given the ball away in their lives. They get you on that carousel and they can leave you dizzy." Xavi was voted "UEFA Champions League best midfielder" for his contribution during Barcelona's victorious 2008–09 Champions League campaign. Xavi was the highest assisting player in La Liga with 20, and in the Champions League, with 7; he earned 29 assists overall that season. Xavi was under contract to Barça until 2014 after extending his contract during the 2008–09 season. The new contract made him one of the club's biggest earners, with a salary of €7.5 million a year.
During the 2009–10 season, journalists increasingly noted Xavi's contribution to the Barcelona team. For example:
In the 2009–10 season, Xavi again topped the assists table and provided both the assists in Barcelona's 2–0 victory against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. Barcelona won the Liga title with a record 99 points, and Xavi was acclaimed Barcelona's second-best player in a season-long vote. On 3 June 2010, Madrid-based newspaper Marca awarded him third place in the annual Trofeo Alfredo di Stéfano award for the best player in La Liga, behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
On 9 June 2010, Xavi signed a new four-year contract with the club, which could be automatically renewed up to 30 June 2016 based on number of games played. On 29 November, he scored his third goal against arch-rivals Real Madrid in a 5–0 home win. On 18 December, he scored another goal against Espanyol in a 5–1 win. In the Champions League, Xavi scored a valuable goal with an assist from David Villa in a home win against Arsenal, that saw Barcelona progress to the quarter-finals.
Xavi was one of the three finalists for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, and finished third in the vote behind his Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta. He narrowly defeated Messi to win the Player of the Year award from World Soccer magazine.
File:Puyol Xavi Messi FC Barcelona Team of the Year 2011.jpg|thumb|right|Xavi with Barcelona teammates Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi in December 2011
On 2 January 2011, in a league match against Levante, Xavi made his 549th appearance for the club in all competitions, matching the record held by Migueli. Xavi later became the player with the most appearances for Barcelona of all time. On 28 May, Xavi was imperious in the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium in London as Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the showpiece for the second time in three seasons, winning 3–1.
Xavi began the 2011–12 season in fine goalscoring form and seemed to grow in his influence of the team despite the long-anticipated return of Cesc Fàbregas and the promotion of Thiago to create added competition for places in Barça's attacking midfield positions. On 18 December, in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final in Yokohama, Barcelona won 4–0 against Brazilian side Santos as Xavi scored a goal and made an assist to Lionel Messi. After the ball was slightly behind him, Xavi brought the ball down with a cocked leg, effectively using his ankle to control it, before slipping a pass through to Messi, who scored the first goal.
Xavi scored the winning goal in the Group H game against A.C. Milan, a vital match for Barcelona's progression in the Champions League knockout stage. In total, Xavi had the best goalscoring return of his career in 2011–12 season with ten Liga goals, two in the Copa del Rey – which Barcelona won – and one in the Club World Cup final win.