Xavi: "I want to stay at the club of my life"

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





One of the most discussed topics in Barcelona is your contract renewal. When will you sign it?
When we come to an agreement, which is close. Things are going great and there's a lot of harmony. They want me to stay and so do I. I'm grateful for the good vibe with the club and the words from the president saying that they're making an effort. I think that within a matter of days a contract will be reached.

Is it your dream to retire at Barca?
Yes, definitely. I'm lucky to be a player that has an attachment to his team. I'm a "cule" for life, and I've always said it and never kept it a secret. I've had this feeling since I've been alive. It's obvious that my vision is to finish my career at the club of my life, which is Barca.

How is it possible that Barca changed so much from one year to the next? Is Guardiola the secret to this Barca?
I think that it's the order and discipline that's currently present. The club is united, the people are becoming supportive again, and the team is hard-working, honorable, sincere and humble. Everything helps, from the order that Pep has put in the team and his reading of the game. Every one of those little details help. Without comparing to last season, which I don't like to do, this year there's a good dynamic, and we're in a string of good results that we must put to good use. The winning mentality that we have from the first minute helps us get the results that we've gotten until now.

And have you changed yourself?
I haven't changed much, to be honest. I'm confident and mentally I'm happy. I get praise and that makes things much easier. It's easier to live with praise than with critique and when things are going great you must appreciate it, but I keep on working just as hard to contribute my part and nothing more. My game hasn't changed, but now that I'm moving down the field a bit more, I'm involved in more actions, I pass more, and I score more goals. It now seems like I've become a little more valuable, but Xavi hasn't changed.

What has indeed changed is how hard the team works at strategies, as seen against Huelva last Sunday.
Yes, this year we've worked hard on it. We train behind closed doors and practice strategic plays. We work on the weaknesses that the opponent has. We practice fouls, corner kicks for and against us, direct fouls... We work a lot and we proved it against Huelva where the movement was a bit slow but we escaped it thanks to the perfect execution of a strategic play. It's the result from the hard work that we do.

Barca is getting praise from around the world. Is this something that could be bad for the team?
Like I said before, things go better with praise than with critique because it's better for one's tranquility. We must still be careful, intelligent and not to lose humility and this solidarity between us, and also the order and discipline. That's something that shouldn't be lost because in a group like this that is what's most important. Praise helps, but we must be smart and keep on working because we haven't done anything but start yet.

Why did the matches against Benidorm and Basil, two inferior teams, were so complicated?
It's difficult to play against teams that give us the entire pitch and possession but have a very tight defense. These matches change when you can retaliate because when you don't, the rival gets stronger, kills time, creates chances and keeps on improving. That's what happened against Basil and Benidorm but we have to be aware that not every game is won with many goals. Rivals also work hard, prepare well, know our team well and close us down well. We'll have many types of games but if we keep up with our mentality, we'll win those matches.

Can Barca win the treble - League, Champions League and Cup - this year?
I have to believe that we can. I'm an optimist and I like to think positively. We have to be careful and we know that it's difficult to achieve, that's why we have to keep on working hard to achieve that goal. We want to win the three titles and want to be ambitious but we have the team and talent to do it. In reality, it's been a while since any team has done it - Manchester United did it last in 1999 - but why can't we do it also? So, of course we can, we must keep on being positive.

Translated by: AL


This is the first part of this interview. The second aprt will follow in the coming days with Xabi talking - among other things - about the upcoming league games and about his team-mates Iniesta, Eto'o and Messi.

Read more interview with Barcelona players here