Xavi: "I was the first to say that Eto'o had to stay"

Barcelona player Xavi gave an interview to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.





You and the team are doing good in the league, but you're about to enter one of the hardest set of fixtures when you face Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal. If Barca wins those matches, will the Liga title already be decided?
Not at all, but if we do good, we benefit from these matches and we have an advantage over our direct rivals for the title. But we'll see what happens. They are difficult matches both home and away and we're going to suffer on the way if we want to win them. If we do, well, we'll see what happens but what's clear is that nothing is decided in December.

The team that seems to struggle climbing the La Liga "mountain" is Real Madrid. Do you think they're in a crisis?
No, they're not in a crisis. What happens is that when Barca is doing well both teams are automatically compared, and it's always been like that. Now it's Barca that's getting the praise and it's normal that the criticism now goes to Madrid. But they're not in a crisis and we know they can recover. Even in the first year that they won La Liga, they were in a crisis and they recovered. Mentally they're very strong and they have the talent to turn matches around which I don't think is a crisis.

Then what do you think it is?
They're obviously in a complicated situation but it's also because Barca is doing well. It's Barca's fault because everything is going marvellous for us and we should keep this going.

Is the absence of Iniesta noticeable?
It's noticeable. A player like Iniesta is easily misse, for his talent, approach, touch, passes, and goal scoring abilities. A player like Iniesta is always missed. There are other players and options in the team to make up for the important absence of Andres. When looking at the results, it seems like it doesn't matter, but on the field, it's obvious.

The player that is in great form is Samuel Eto'o.
Samuel has had very bad knee injuries and he has always wanted to recover in time. I've also had knee injuries and I know from experience that they're very difficult to recover from, but he's a very ambitious player. I think that he's currently the best forward in the world. He's proved it by scoring goals and by his hunger for titles, something that benefits the team. He's the first that pressures the opposition, is solitary, humble and hard-working. We're pleased by him. We were the first to say that he was going to stay. I was the first in the pre-season to say that Samuel had to stay and that we needed him, and we've been proved right.

What about Messi's impressive form?
To me he's the best player in the world, very distant to whoever can be considered second best. He's at the level of Ronaldinho's prime of his first two seasons.

Many compare him to Maradona.
It's common because you can see it in the way he plays, his aggressiveness against the opposition, his vertical play and his ability to do anything. Nowadays you can't even stop him, you can only trip him. He's a player of whom, when he has the ball, the rivals know that he's capable of anything, something that we also know and that benefits us. I'm certain that he's the number one.

When one is told that he was the best player at the Euro, what do you think then?
That everything went well, that we triumphed as a team and that they recognized my work well done. But there are others that must be recognized, such as Puyol, Casillas, Senna, Torres, Villa, and any other player from the national team. In this case they picked one player that exemplified the good work of the entire team.

Are there many differences between Del Bosque and Luis Aragones?
Of course there are. Football wise, no, because they have the same philosophy of technical football, including the possession of the ball, that is of course influenced by the current players who are all talented. Personality wise, Luis is very visceral, has much character and the difference is there. Vicente is very relaxed, calm, upright, completely different than Luis was.

Is Spain a favorite to win the next World Cup?
It's one of the favorites after the Euro. Before it wasn't but now after triumphing at the Euro, we must be realistic and know that this team is capable of winning the World Cup. There are other favorites like Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany, teams that have historically won more titles than Spain.

What do you think about Maradona being the new Argentina manager?
I think it's great and it's great news for football. He must also start getting familiar with football again, because it's what Maradona knows best and it's great news for the sport and for himself.

Translated by: AL


This was the second part of this interview. Read the first part here:
Xavi: "I want to stay at the club of my life"

Read more interviews with Barcelona players here