Xavi’s End Signals Curtain-Closer for a Generation

It was August 2010, in the Camp Nou. Nearly 100,000 people packed into the behemoth of a stadium to witness the biggest club fixture in the world. Everywhere you looked was packed-full of narratives: Pep Guardiola vs. Jose Mourinho, Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, and perhaps most pertinently, tiki-taka vs. counter-attack. The stage was set for an epic battle. But what ensued shocked the world.

The 5-0 victory to Barcelona that night was arguably the finest ever display of football at the elite level. On the same pitch as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso, it was the Xavi who stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Only two months since Spain had won the World Cup with the style drenched in possession – known as tiki-taka – Xavi orchestrated the zenith of the style in a generation defining performance.

No matter how hard the Madrid players ran on the night, they only seemed to get further away from the ball at every attempt. Barcelona played 683 passes on the night, completing 605 (89%) of them. Xavi played by far the most passes on the night – 117 – completing 110 (94%) of them. Of those 117 passes he played, it equated to 17% of every pass played by a Barca player that night. His influence was unrelenting.

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It was a clinic in intelligent and focused game control from the Spaniard. He really was untouchable on the night. The fact he scored the opening goal on the night yet is often forgotten when discussing the historic performance goes some way to explaining just how good he was on the night. But this is just a snippet of one particular stand-out performance. What makes Xavi so different than other midfield greats saying goodbye to the game at the elite level this season, such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, is Xavi was never really about stand-out performances.

What Xavi was about, was subtly in the finer details of the game. Orchestrating a style of football which would conquer the international and club scene for years, he quietly defined a generation. Xavi’s departure from his boyhood club doesn’t signal an immediate cessation for tiki-taka though, just a symbolic one. In truth Barcelona’s dogmatic dedication to tiki-taka has dissipated and evolved ever since the departure of Pep Guardiola and the tragic death of Tito Villanova.

Appointing Gerardo Martino was a direct response the club feeling they needed to play a more direct game. While Martino’s reign was ultimately a step too far, Luis Enrique has blended ideas, which has resulted in a game where Barcelona are no more midfield-centric, but purely all for the front three of Neymar-Suarez-Messi. This step toward a tiki-taka less Barcelona may have been apparent for the past two years, but in late March we were given the clearest example yet, in the most ironic setting: the clasico.

Barcelona once again hosted – and beat – Real Madrid in what was all but a title decider for La Blaugrana. One team looked to pass the ball carefully, while another played sharp passes in behind. It was of course Barcelona who used their rapid front-three as the catalyst for the vital win, not their midfield.

Over the course of the season, an uncomfortable reality has bubbled to the surface at the Camp Nou: Barcelona is moving on, Xavi is leaving the building—and he’s taking tiki-taka with him.

What shouldn’t be forgotten though, is Xavi’s late-season re-emergence. Although the midfield maestro may not have played as much as he used to, he ended the season with more La Liga minutes (1779), than his old partner in crime Andres Iniesta (1590), despite being four years his junior.

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Ahead of what will be his final match for Barcelona this Saturday as Barcelona play Juventus in the Champions League final, Xavi hasn’t been short of public admiration from past teammates and opponents.

If Fernando Torres’ best years were intrinsically defined by his relationship with Steven Gerrard, his connection with Xavi on the international scene wasn’t far off. Speaking on Twitter he was quick to give due praise to Xavi: “It is the end of an era for one of the greats, but we will never forget that you made us great.”

Former Spain and Barcelona teammate David Villa wasn’t shy with his praise meanwhile, stating he is simply best midfielder ever: “He is the best midfielder of all time. I hope that things go really well in his new experience”.

Undoubtedly effusive praise of the highest order from Villa, but perhaps one of the most illuminating quotes which arose this week came from former Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano: “If football was a science, Xavi would have discovered the formula. With a ball at his feet, no one else has ever communicated so intelligently with every player on the pitch”.

Xavi was the spiritual and cultural leader of a generation defining era of success for club and country. In a time where the game has become further complicated through endless jargon, Xavi made the game simple, made the game beautiful, made it simply beautiful.

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