Barcelona midfielders Andres Iniesta and Xavi are two of the greatest midfielders of all time and by far the best of their generation. The Barcelona midfield duo Xavi and Iniesta took football to the next level in passing, creating and dominating the ball. Undoubtedly, two players were the driving force behind the club’s win in many tournaments. Along with Andres Iniesta in midfield, Xavi spent 17 long years at Barcelona, making 505 appearances and scoring 58 goals.
Xavi joined Barcelona’s youth academy at the age of 11 and has risen in the ranks to become one of the best midfielders the game has ever seen, much like what happened to Andres Iniesta. Surprisingly, Xavi Hernandez doesn’t have an excellent defensive record because he was a superior screener in front of four defenders. You don’t see him chewing the ball in midfield, but he got the ball back anyway because he was a rapid thinker.
Barcelona icon Andrés Iniesta spent most of his playing career at Camp Nou and forged a strong partnership with club legend Xavi. Barcelona icon Andres Iniesta was named the best midfielder, ahead of German legend Lothar Matthäus and club legend Xavi.
Guardiola predicted that Iniesta was moving to the top of the game. The game was consistently accurate. Still, fortunately for a generation of fans, it didn’t come at the expense of then-teammate Xavi’s role in the senior team, instead of giving the game one of the most iconic partnerships to witness, which was football. Trophies continued relentlessly, and football became more and more alien, the game moving from another planet as Andres Iniesta and then his teammate Xavi united in the heart of Barcelona.
The success came a year after Spain won the World Cup in South Africa. Even without Messi being brought to Barcelona, then-teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta confirmed their role as the best player in the competition. The status of the great two geniuses. Guardiola, who was named Barcelona head coach in 2008, is widely seen as the catalyst for the rise of the Xavi-Iniesta axis. While his role in changing perceptions wasn’t much divided, the two saw it that summer on the international stage.
If Pep was interested in promoting football based on possession and unrestrained movement, then Xavi and Andres Iniesta were two of his most trusted salesmen, the ones who could go door to door and convince even the most sceptical listener to keep the ball. Hands are the best way to succeed and win football matches. All midfielders will be judged for their specific role; of course, Modric and Kroos were the closest pairings, but Modric’s peak was not close to demonic Xavi and Iniesta levels.
Neymar has praised the Italian Marco Verratti and compared him to former Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, widely regarded as one of the best central midfielders. Neymar has played alongside the Italy midfielder since joining Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017.