Xavi

Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), also known as Xavi Hernández or simply Xavi, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who manages La Liga club Barcelona.

Widely considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi was renowned for his passing, vision, ball retention, and positioning. He won 32 trophies in his career, making him the second-most decorated Spanish player in history, behind former teammate Andrés Iniesta.

Xavi joined La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy at age 11 and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998, age 18.

In all, he played 767 official matches, a former club record—now held by Lionel Messi—and scored 85 goals.

Xavi is the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined.

With Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles.

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.

With Spain, Xavi won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999, and the Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Olympics.

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.

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.

After making his senior team debut in 2000, he was capped 133 times for his country, and was an influential figure in the team's successes.

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 and the 2004 Supercopa de España.

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 was included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI on six occasions: 2008 to 2013, and the UEFA Team of the Year five times: 2008 to 2012.

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.

He was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award four times, all straight between 2008 and 2011.

Xavi came third in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year, followed by third place for its successor award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, in 2010 and 2011.

He played an integral role in Spain's victory at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as their wins at UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012.

In 2011, he was runner up to Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

With two assists in the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, Xavi became the first player to register assists in two separate European finals, after setting up the only goal in the final four years earlier.

Xavi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in 2012.

After the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football.

In 2015, he departed Barcelona for Al Sadd, where he won four trophies before retiring in 2019.

After retirement, Xavi transitioned to coaching, and he was named the manager at Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd in May 2019, where he won seven titles in less than three years.

In November 2021, Xavi was appointed as manager at his former club Barcelona.

He won the 2022–23 Supercopa de España & the 2022–23 La Liga title in his first full season as the club's manager.

Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia,

name="barcelonasite"> 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.

In 2020 Xavi was named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI published by France Football.

He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances.