Andres Iniesta heaps praise on Barcelona manager Xavi: “He knows what he wants”

Speaking to RAC1, former Barcelona midfielder and club legend Andres Iniesta has hailed Xavi Hernandez for the work he has done as the manager of the first team.

Xavi, Iniesta’s former partner-in-crime in Barça’s midfield, returned to the club in November 2021 as manager and has turned things around in a spectacular manner.

When he took over, Barcelona were languishing in the mid-table, but Xavi led the team to a second-place finish last season. Building on that, the Catalans are now at the top of the La Liga table this term, with a massive 12-point advantage over current champions Real Madrid.

Naturally, Iniesta has been left impressed by how his former teammate has led the team and claimed that the evolution under Xavi has been ‘spectacular’.

“Without a doubt, since Xavi came to Barcelona the evolution has been clear and spectacular,” he said. “Hopefully we end up winning this league title, so that next year we can compete for everything.”

“Xavi has prepared a lot for this moment, he has very clear ideas, he knows what he wants and how he wants it and what the position he occupies means,” Iniesta added.

The Vissel Kobe midfielder also spoke up about Barcelona’s recent El Clasico victory over Real Madrid, saying: “The match was beautiful, intense and interesting and with a perfect ending for us, for winning and for having that considerable lead, although not definitive, to be able to win La Liga.”

Iniesta, however, did warn that the team must keep winning matches until it is mathematically not possible for Real Madrid to catch up in the title race, as he said: “Until it is not mathematically possible it is not definitive and we have to win until the end, but we are in a position to do so.”

During the interview, Iniesta also gave his two cents about the Negreira corruption scandal that has dragged Barcelona into controversy. The former captain was clear that the club had never paid any referees for any favourable treatment, as he said:

“I am totally convinced that Barcelona never bought referees. In all the time that I played for the club, I never noticed anything strange. The information is notorious and I understand that all this is being looked at, and what happened and what didn’t. We will see what happens.”