Xavi: The Greatest Midfielder Ever

[THREAD]
Xavier Hernàndez Creus, commonly known as Xavi was born on the 25th of January 1980. He joined Barcelona's world famous La Masia youth academy aged 11. This thread is dedicated to his incredible playing career for Barcelona and the Spanish national team.
Xavi made his first team debut for Barcelona on May 5th 1998 and scored his first goal for the first team against Mallorca on 18th August 1998.

His idol growing up was Barcelona legend Pep Guardiola.
In 1999, he became a regular for the first team and was the main creative hub of the team after an injury to Pep Guardiola. He soon went on to become a key member for Louis van Gaal's team that won back to back La Liga titles. He was also named La Liga Breakthrough POTY.
The next few years that followed were probably the hardest in Xavi's career. Barcelona were in a financial crisis while Valencia and the Galacticos of Real Madrid were the dominant force in Spain.

Xavi didn't seem to have the full trust of the supporters either.
From 2004, with Frank Rijkaard as the new manager, Xavi was named vice captain and Barcelona went on to win La Liga in 2005.
In the 2005-06 season however, Xavi suffered a serious injury which kept him out for many months.

But Barcelona went on to win La Liga and their second ever Champions League with Ronaldinho being the star man in that team.
But dark days soon returned as Frank Rijkaard seemed to have lost the dressing room and Barcelona went without a major trophy for the next two seasons.

Xavi has admitted that he had almost signed for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2008 but Pep Guardiola convinced him to stay.
Before the start of the next season, Xavi was called up to represent Spain at the Euros and he delivered big time. He was influential in Spain's victory as his passing and reading of the game helped Spain to their first Euro title since 1964.
He was named as UEFA Euro Player of the Tournament.

Andy Roxburgh, head of UEFA's Technical Committee said, "We have chosen Xavi as POTT because he epitomizes the Spanish style of play. He was influential in the whole possesion, passing and penetrating game that Spain played."
Little did Xavi know that staying at Barcelona would be the best decision of his career. Under the management of Pep, Barcelona won all 6 trophies available to them in 2009, becoming the first team to do so with Xavi being a key part of the success of that team.
That season, Xavi broke the record of most assists in a La Liga season (20) which was only bested by Lionel Messi (21). He added another 7 assists in the Champions League, also assisting Messi's iconic header in the final against Manchester United.
In 2009-10, people understood Xavi's contributions to the team and started comparing him to legends such as Lothar Matthäus and Michel Platini.

"Quite simply the best midfielder in modern football. World class for several years."
He once again finished top assister in La Liga as Barcelona wrapped up the title with a then record 99 points. He came in 3rd place for La Liga POTY and the Ballon d'Or in 2010.

That year he also signed a new 4 year deal which kept him at Barcelona until June 30, 2016.
In the summer, he was one of the key players in Spain's first ever World Cup victory. He completed the most accurate passes (599) with a pass success rate of 91%. He was included in the World Cup Dream Team.
"Xavi is the beating heart of this Spanish team, the man dictating the Tiki Taka pulse of pass after pass. No player more influences the way his whole team plays."~ Duncan White in 2010.
After the World Cup triumph, it was time for him to play his part in what is regarded as the greatest club side of all time as Barcelona the Champions League and La Liga title that season playing some of the best football that has ever been played.
Xavi was on another level and further proof of that was in the Champions League Final at Wembley where Barcelona trounced Manchester United 3-1 in what way the best performance by a team in a final. The scoreline didn't do justice to how well Barcelona played that day.
Xavi on the 2011 UCL Final~

"It must have been around the 80th minute when Wayne Rooney said to me, 'That's enough. You've won. You can stop playing the ball around now'."
The 2012 season was another great year for Xavi but it didn't bear much fruit. Real Madrid under Josè Mourinho won La Liga and Barcelona lost to Chelsea by the narrowest of margins in the Champions League semifinal.
Although Barcelona still won the Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, they didn't manage to reach the heights of the previous seasons.

The season was Xavi's most productive in terms of goalscoring as he managed 10 goals in La Liga. His highest ever tally.
But just like 2010, Xavi once again redeemed himself at the Euros, winning his second as Spain humiliated Italy 4-0 in the final.

Xavi was nominated in the Team of the Tournament.
Even with the departure of Pep Guardiola in the summer and approaching the twilight years of his career, Xavi still other proved to be a vital cog in a team that won La Liga in 2013 with relative ease, amassing 100 points, the joint highest in La Liga history.
In June 2014, after failing to win a single major trophy, Xavi announced he would be leaving Barcelona in the summer until newly appointed manager Luis Enrique convinced him to stay for another year.
And for the second time, staying was a great idea as Barcelona became the first ever team to win 2 Trebles and gave Xavi the perfect goodbye. He wasn't as important to the victory as previous years but his presence and leadership was certainly a big factor in that season.
He departed the club in the summer of 2015 as one of the best players in Barcelona and football history. We miss his presence in the midfield to this day.

Thank you for everything, Xavi.❤️
Career Honours:

8x La Liga
3x Copa del Rey
6x Spanish Super Cup
4x UEFA Champions League
2x UEFA Super Cup
2x FIFA Club World Cup
2x UEFA European Championship
1x FIFA World Cup
Hope you liked this thread!
Likes and RTs appreciated :)
You can follow @RudyFCB_.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
Those who think consciousness raising & movement building are disconnected, or even a distraction from electoral politics have not paid attention to the history of social change.In this thread, we
Read more
The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decadeA few predictions of what is likely to emerge[ a thread ] Third Space: Office and Working from Home will
Read more
1/29: Have you ever had a concept explained to you that helps frame complex issues you’ve been wrestling with and opens your eyes to new possibilities? A concept that I
Read more
By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.