Xavi: "Messi is playing at his own level"

Barcelona player Xavi gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport.





In Madrid they think that the Liga will get tough and that they still can win it...
Well, that's fine by me. That they're trying to fight back tells something about them. Because they've always been there, even when they were playing bad, they always refound themselves and have overcome complicated situations. At the end it's Madrid we're talking about, they're winners and that's why they react like that.

They played poorly at the Camp Nou?
Barça has a clear philosophy, that starts with ball possession. Their philosophy is to win no matter how, we want to win by playing well. We're never gonna change that and a coach with a different philosophy won't join the club.

That's why Mourinho didn't come?
I don't know about that, but maybe even he would have had to adapt to our philosophy that has made the fans very demanding, they want to see a good display ànd they want to win. And when you play well, you normally win. Madrid came here to play their game. They also saw that we were in a good moment. And we could all see a very defensive Madrid.

The fans are setting a high bar for this team?
When people don't come to the stadium, that's not our fault because we have played in a spectacular way... The fans who are there are enjoying it, but the global crisis and the television broadcasts have an influence. If you have to play at ten in the evening and it's cold and you have three little children, you won't come. I cannot imagine that it's for football reasons.

A football player is affected by the crisis?
Of course! I feel it because I have some real estate business and the interests and mortgage loans are going up. But of course I don't feel it in my daily life, we don't have problems to get to the end of the month.

You're satisfied about having signed a renewal last month?
I'm very happy at all levels. The club has valued me rightly. I don't want to think about my retirement because when I will be 34 years old I will maybe still feel excellent. I just want to keep on playing at the club of my life because it gives a double satisfaction when you win. Starting and ending a career at the same club is a privilege that is priceless. And I'm already privileged for being a football player, can you imagine how I feel about being a Barça player?

You play with more pressure now that the opponents are marking you more closely?
Not really more pressure, because I've learnt to deal with the pressure since I was 18 years old. There's always pressure at this club because you always have to win. Every pass, every ball, every control, everything has to be perfect, good or great is not enough. Mentally you sometimes get tired. Also because I'm not a physical player, I have to do it with my technique and my talent. I'm marked more closely now, but I actually like it.

Pep says that the thing he admires most about Xavi is your way of dealing with the pressure.
I can get stressed when I have to do something I'm not capable of, like for example having to speak before 300 people. But with a ball at my feet I don't feel the pressure, because that's one of the things I'm good at.

With the lead you have now, would it be a failure if you don't win the league?
Hypothetically you can speak about anything. I like to talk about the reality and our situation can't get better in any way. We will win or we will lose. We're very dependent on ourselves. We have an advantage but there's a long way to go.

Does it surprise you that the team seems to have something extra after key players like Ronaldinho and Deco left...
It's a coincidence because they weren't to blame. Every player of the squad and the coach and the other memebers of the staff were to blame for what happened.

Messi has definitely taken over the role as kep player this season.
If I were the captain of the Spanish national team, my vote for the FIFA World player would have been one Messi, two Cristiano Ronaldo and three Gerrard or Ribéry, although I think I would have voted for Gerrard in the end because I'm familiar with the position he plays. But it's clear that there's one player who is at his own level and that's Messi. Who don't want to see that must be blind.

How is Eto'o doing after last summer's events?
Eto'o hasn't changed. He has his own way of living. He has good things and bad things like everyone but we respect him and we need him. We're stronger when he's there because he's the best centre forward in the world. It's a guy who's always there when we need to score and his record is just scaring. Other seasons things happened that he thought being wrong and he also reacted in an wrong way. But it's a hard-working guy, honest, true. Someone who keeps the group together and who leads the project.


This was the second part of this interview. You will be able to read the third part later. Read the first part here:
Xavi: "How did this happen?!"

Read more:
Transfer history: Xavi was close to Milan
Deco: "The media pressure at Barca is huge"
Xavi delighted with renewal