
Louis van Gaal handed him his debut with the Blaugrana on August 18, 1998, in a game against Real Mallorca. Xavi, who was expected to become the successor to Pep Guardiola in the midfield, scored one goal, though Barcelona would lose the match.

In 1999 he won the Under-20 World Cup alongside players such as Iker Casillas, Pablo Orbaiz and Carlos Marchena, and a year later in Syndey, Spain were runners-up at the Olympics as they won the silver medal.

He celebrated his first LaLiga Santander title in 1998/99 under Van Gaal, despite not being one of Barcelona's leading characters that season.

Frank Rijkaard bet on a 4-3-3 system which gave Xavi freedom in the midfield alongside defensive players such as Van Bommel, Edgar Davids and Thiago Motta. Together with the Dutch coach, they 2 La Ligas, 2 Supercups and a Champions league title.

Surrounded by players such as Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and David Villa, Xavi gave a recital of football in the 2008 European Championship, taking Spain all the way to the trophy and crowning himself as MVP of the tournament.

Xavi was in his peak under Pep Guardiola as they won two Champions League trophies, two Copa del Reys, three league titles, three Supercopas de Espana, two Club World Cups and two European Super Cups.

Despite the change on the bench and the arrival of Vicente del Bosque, everything in the Spanish national team remained intact and La Roja won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, again with Xavi being pivotal in their success.

Xavi played for Spain at Euro 2012 which Spain won by defeating Italy 4-0 in the final. He attempted 136 passes (94% success rate) during Spain's 4-0 victory in the group stage match against Ireland, more than any other player in a European Championship match.

Xavi bid farewell to Barcelona as the player who had made the most appearances in the club's history with 767. His career at the Blaugrana came to an end in June 2015, when he lifted his fourth champions league title.

In May 2019, Xavi played the final match of his career, a defeat to Persepolis, which was Al Sadd's final AFC Champions League group match.

before the match, he stated that he would like to remain in Qatar after his retirement, and that he would look to begin a coaching career, commenting: "The idea is to start as a coach in Qatar, to test myself and get some experience."
After having won just four trophies in four years as a player in Al Sadd, he has turned things around and has won four trophies in just one year as a coach

He could very well be making his long anticipated return to Barcelona as a manager in the near future and hopefully, lead them to glory once again.
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