Xavi Hernandez confirmed on Thursday that he is calling time on his Barcelona career, and has agreed a move to Qatari side Al Sadd.
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The move brings to an end one of the most glorious careers the club has known, and will also see the departure of the beating heart of the magnificent side constructed by Pep Guardiola.
The crowning achievement of that side was arguably the Champions League triumph of 2009, and come the end of this season, only four of that team—Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique will remain at the club.
Before and since that pivotal triumph, Xavi has seen some of the greatest names in the game pass through the Nou Camp.
In this feature, we present a dream starting XI of the World Cup winner’s Barca teammates.
Victor Valdes
He may not have always been universally admired, but few can argue with Victor Valdes’s career achievements.
The stopper was present both for Spain’s World Cup triumph of 2010 and their European Championship victory two years later.
For Barca, he accrued six Spanish championships and three Champions League crowns, before leaving in 2014.
He currently players for Manchester United, having made his debut for the club at the weekend.
Gerard Pique
Still only 28, it’s amazing to think that perhaps Gerard Pique hasn’t yet reached his prime.
The centre-back returned to Catalonia from Manchester United in 2008 and has gone on to play a key role in a glorious era for both Spain and Barcelona.
His physical presence and his composure on the ball have served club and country well, and there is so much more to come from this future Barcelona captain.
Carles Puyol
Before Xavi Hernandez took the Barcelona armband in 2014, Carles Puyol captained club and country for many successful years.
Indeed, Puyol, who was born in Catalonia, will go down in history as the emblematic captain as one of the greatest club sides and one of the finest national sides in the sport’s long existence.
He managed a perfect 100 caps for Spain and served Barcelona for 15 years, winning six domestic championships.
Miguel Angel Nadal
Before there was Puyol, there was Nadal, a centre-back widely considered to be among the toughest men the game has ever known.
Nadal, of course, was long gone by the time Xavi reached his prime, but the pair overlapped at the end of the 90s.
The defender—and uncle of Rafael Nadal—was a member of Johan Cruyff’s unforgettable ‘Dream Team’ and won the European Cup in 1992.
Pep Guardiola
While Guardiola is best known among a contemporary football audience as one of the finest coaches in the game, he was once considered one of the finest midfielders in the game.
Pep was the cerebral centrepiece of Cruyff’s Dream Team, and Xavi admitted that during his time at La Masia, Guardiola was his idol.
The two were briefly teammates, before the latter—who had once predicted that Xavi would ‘retire’ him—moved to Brescia in 2001.
Andres Iniesta
Xavi’s midfield foil and one half of possibly the greatest midfield pairing in the game’s history.
The incredible mutual understanding and commensurable technical prowess of the duo meant that ‘Xaviesta’ became the centrepiece of two glorious sides.
The pair have done it all together and Iniesta took a moment to pay special compliment to his long-time midfield partner upon learning the news of his departure.
“I am out of compliments. I will not find anyone at the stature of what he represents as a person and a player,” he began, speaking to ESPN.
“The figures, the years, the feelings, his way of doing things are beyond any words. He is a unique player, unrepeatable and has been fundamental at the club and with the national team.
“It is a true pleasure and privilege to have had my entire career at his side.”
Ronaldinho
The subsequent arrival of Lionel Messi, and all of his mastery and efficiency, has someone coloured Ronaldinho’s legacy.
It’s become easy to forget that for several campaigns ahead of the 2006 World Cup, the playmaker was the greatest player in the world, capable of producing moments of magic that few—if any—have every before managed.
He won two Spanish titles in Catalonia, as well as the Champions League in 2006.
Luis Figo
Luis Figo is, of course, detested in Barcelona, having ‘betrayed’ the club by accepting a world-record transfer to Real Madrid in 2000.
For the previous five years, he had served Barca with distinction, winning two La Liga title.
He achieved even greater success at Real, where he lifted the Spanish title two more times, and helped Real to beat Bayer Leverkusen to win the European Cup in 2002.
Rivaldo
It’s almost impossible to argue with some of Rivaldo’s achievements upon his arrival at Barcelona in 1997.
He was arguably the second-best player in the world (behind Zinedine Zidane) for the next five years, and demonstrated a remarkable goalscoring record for a midfielder.
In three of his first four seasons at the Camp Nou, he scored 19 or more league goals, winning the Liga BBVA title in 1998 and 1999.
He would later win the Champions League with Milan in 2003, as well as the World Cup in 2002.
Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o isn’t always considered in the absolute top tier of players, largely because of his off-field controversies as well as his desire to abdicate from the central narratives of the European game in 2011.
He came third in the Fifa World Player of the Year award in 2005 and, over five seasons, scored 100 goals for the Catalonians.
Critically, he was influential in both the 2006 and the 2009 Champions League finals, and won three Spanish championships at the Camp Nou before leaving for Inter Milan.
Lionel Messi
We close with Lionel Messi, a player who is an absolute shoo-in for a dream team of Xavi’s teammates, and indeed, there wouldn’t be many who would begrudge him a spot in an all-time greatest XI!
He is Barcelona’s all-time top scorer—with many of his goal’s set up by Xavi—and also holds the record for the most goals in both the Champions League and La Liga.