Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta has reflected on his on-pitch relationship with former team-mate Xavi, highlighting that, despite their great success later in their careers, early on many didn’t believe they could play together.
Andres Iniesta and Xavi first played alongside each other during a 4-0 away win against Mallorca in 2002/03, with their final time on the pitch together coming during the 2014/15 Champions League semi-final second-leg against Bayern Munich, in which Barcelona won 3-0.
With Deco, Phillip Cocu, Thiago Motta, Luis Enrique, Ludovic Giuly, among many other quality midfielders, all limiting Iniesta’s opportunities to play alongside Xavi in the early-to-mid-2000s, many theorised that the two Spaniard’s were incompatible.
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That soon changed when Pep Guardiola arrived as manager in 2008, however, with the two diminutive midfielders increasingly encouraged to dominate games from midfield.
“My connection with Xavi grew organically, without forcing anything,” Iniesta exclusively tells FourFourTwo. “It developed over time, as we got more chances to play together.
“Maybe people forget now, but there was a time when it was said we were incompatible. There was a lot of talk, but we proved the opposite. We grew up with the same footballing philosophy and understood the game in the same way.
“When I was in the youth academy, Xavi had already heard about me, as he’s four years older. When I joined the first team, things gradually clicked until we eventually understood each other with just a glance.”
In total, Iniesta and Xavi played 486 games, or 30,341 minutes according to Transfermarkt, as team-mates in their careers for both Barcelona and Spain, winning the World Cup, two Euros, four Champions Leagues and a litany of other domestic titles and trophies.
Just 63 of those matches ended in losses as well, highlighting their superiority on the pitch together – indeed, they finished as second and third in the 2011 Ballon d’Or behind Lionel Messi, with both coming in the top three on other occasions, too.
Xavi arguably benefitted from the relationship more than Iniesta, however. Though he scored more Barcelona goals in total, Xavi saw 14 of his 85 finishes assisted by Iniesta, while just five were returned for the latter’s 57 goals.
