With over 490 league appearances for Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez holds the record of most matches being played for the Spanish club. He is regarded to be as one of the best and greatest footballers that have emerged from Spain out of his generation.
At the age of 35, Xavi Hernandez is by far the oldest player in the team of Luis Enrique but it has not stopped him on making impressive performances on a consistent basis as well as managing to get more playing time in the pitch than many other of his younger teammates.
When Xavi was asked about retirement, he replied by saying: “I’ll play until the legs tell me to stop, but my game does not depend on speed like others,”
It is indeed true that Xavi Hernandez does not rely on having a superior physical strength or an impressive speed to play his game and this is something that the Spanish midfielder has been recognized for throughout his playing career which extends from 1998 and still continues going on strong.
The Qatari side Al-Sadd is well aware that Xavi is one of those few players who can make a huge impact in any match without having to move all over the pitch or running out of breath. The true value of the Spanish midfielder lies on his ability to command a team and find empty spaces in the pitch and taking advantage of this by releasing pin point passes to his teammates.
This is what has helped the Spanish player in lifting the Spanish League title in 7 seasons as well as going on to win the Champions League piece of silverware in 3 occasions with Barcelona.
Barcelona is currently located at the top of La Liga and are also competing in the Champions League. Hernandez is hoping that he can spend the last season of his career at the Camp Nou by adding more major titles to his collection as the Spanish midfielder wants to finish his time in Spain on a high note.