FC BARCELONA

The World gala awards ceremony will be held on Monday the 7 in Barcelona with the presence of most of the winners.

Lionell Messi (international top goalscorer), Iker Casillas (best goalkeeper), Xavi (best player), Pep Guardiola (best coach) and Barcelona (best club) will be the main winners of the gala of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

The World gala awards ceremony will be held next Monday in July in Barcelona with the presence of most of the winners at a ceremony to be chaired Mohammad Al Qassemi, new president of the IFFHS since November 2011.

Award also highlights the league championship first division in Spain as Liga strongest in the world, ahead of the Premier League.

Uruguay also will be awarded the Óscar Tabarez for best national coach, Hungarian Viktor Kassai as best referee and Latvian Trans Narva in his country, Alexsandrs Cekulajevs, top scorer in a league championship.

This last award is different from Messi, who is rewarded for his goals with the Argentina national team and international goals for his club.

They will receive a gold trophy while the runners in each category will receive silver. There will also be prizes for the best in the first decade of XXI century in each category and for the most popular players last year.

The runners-up in 2011 are Vicente del Bosque (coach), Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich (goalkeeper), Leo Messi (best player), Colombian Radamel Falcao, his goals in the national team, Porto and Atlético Madrid and the Portuguese José Mourinho (coach).

The second top goalscorer in Liga is Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish first division, second best club is Real Madrid, the second best league is the English and the second best referee in English Howard Webb, one year before, in 2010 , refereed the World Cup final South Africa won Spain.

Of the eighteen awards, nine and nine seconds, seven are for Spanish. Del Bosque, Casillas, Xavi and Guardiola receive it at the individual and these are added the awards for Barcelona, Real Madrid and la Liga First Division.

The awards for the best in the decade 2001-2010 are for Markus Merk (best referee), Arsen Wenger (coach), Gianluigi Buffon (goalkeeper), Ruud van Nistelrooy (scorer in international matches), Barcelona (club) and Shakhtar Donestsk Ukrainian as a club that has progressed in the decade.

There are also awards for best club of its continents for Barcelona (Europe), Boca Juniors (South America) América of Mexico (CONCACAF), Al-Ahly of Egypt (Africa), Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia (Asia) and Auckland City new Zealand (Oceania).

The prizes for the most popular players confederations in 2011 correspond to the Italian Roma, Francesco Totti, Manchester United Mexican Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, Eduardo Jesús Vargas of the Universidad de Chile, and Harold Kewell (Oceania), Yasser Al Qahtani (Asia) and Nadir Lamyaghri (Africa). (via SPORT)

After tests this morning revealed his left calf has a tear, Xavi Hernandez will be out of action for the next 15 day.

Xavi Hernández will miss the end of La Liga season after it was revealed that he had suffered a tear in his left calf and will miss the next 15 days. Xavi has so far played in 47 games this season and scored 14 goals, but he has been subbed in all but two of the last eight matches. Xavi has been suffering from trouble with his soleus muscle at the back of the calf all season and missed the Champions League game against with a right calf problem. (via FCBarcelona.com)

The Barça midfielder reckons: ”the league might be lost, but we’ve got a Cup Final ahead, we’ve already won three titles and we can still reach the Champions League final”.

Reflecting on the Madrid defeat, Xavi believes: “we didn’t play a bad game, but we were not at the excellent level which we normally are”.

Xavi Hernández is clear that there is no time for regrets about Saturday’s result and the fact that it means retaining the title would be a “miracle”, with Tuesday’s game against Chelsea looming large: “we are playing for the chance to make the Champions League final, that says everything, The fans are intelligent enough to know that we will be playing for so much on Tuesday and we really want them behind us, as they always have been on the big occasions to help us fight back”.

Although he accepts that “the league title is practically impossible”, Xavi insists that the team can be proud of the season so far: “the league title might be lost, but we’ve got a Cup Final ahead, we’ve already won three titles and we can still reach the Champions League final. Of the six competitions we were in this season, we still have the chance to come away with five – we are just missing the Cup and the Champions League. We’ll keep fighting, because we know that it’s in our own hands to finish with a good season”.

Looking back at Saturday’s defeat, Xavi believes: “we didn’t play a bad game, but we were not at the excellent level which we normally are. We had the ball and dominated, but we didn’t have the chances we usually do and Madrid just took advantage of that”. Finally, Xavi insisted that Barça could still hold their heads high: “we always try and win, we are competitive but what characterises us is that we also know how to deal with defeat – we did after we lost the Cup Final and we congratulated them then - that’s just part of the game and that’s the way we are”. (via FCBarcelona.cat)

Barça midfielder Xavi Hernández said the recipe to beat the azulgrana, recalled his time with Rijkaard and regretted that years ago were considered "bad, useless and harmful."

"The solution against us is to take away the ball. O trucar the playing field, play us in a very dry or tall grass," said the Spanish international in an interview with the weekly supplement of the French newspaper "L'Equipe" , which devotes a special Saturday at Barcelona.

Some of the strategies to put into "problems" Barça go through artificially slow down the playing conditions, influence the state of the pitch or close the team defensively and leave "a fast center forward in the center circle," said Xavi. "Normally, we know that sooner or later will mark," the three times winner of the Champions League.

The player praised the concept of football by Pep Guardiola, who assumes Johan Cruyff, and said that the club "has revolutionized the way football because the players like they should be coaches."

He confessed that his exentrenador, Dutchman Frank Rijkaard did not trust him and that was good for the club and for his own ego again feel "important."

"Rijkaard did not believe in me. I wanted to take our game to a higher physical dimension, considered it the only way to fight with the same weapons as the best European clubs," said Xavi.

The world champion also stressed the importance of the influence of Cruyff at Barcelona, where he took his philosophy that "the talent must take precedence over the physical."

"Four or five years, was appalling, useless, harmful. It was cancer of the Barça! A player of 1.70 was simply impossible," he recalled on the eve of play a league match against Real Madrid and the second leg the semifinal of the Champions League against Chelsea. (via SPORT)

Assuming he plays on Saturday, the midfielder will make it to 32 clásicos, beating the record held by Segarra (31) for matches against the old enemy.

Also, Carles Puyol will equalise Migueli’s 13 league appearances against the all-whites at the Camp Nou.

On Saturday, Xavi Hernández could become the Barça player to have made the most appearances against Real Madrid. If he plays his 32nd match against the old enemy, he will beat the 31 achieved by Segarra, a record he levelled when he appeared in the Spanish Supercup last summer.

He played Real Madrid for the first time in 2000 at the Santiago Bernabéu, a game that also featured Pep Guardiola and Carles Puyol. Since then, he has made it to 23 clásicos in the league, which included one goal scored in last year’s famous 5-0 drubbing of Madrid at the Camp Nou. His total of 31 clásicos also includes 3 games in the Copa del Rey, 3 in the Champions League and 2 in the Spanish Supercup.

Although Xavi holds the outright record, he is not the man to have played Real Madrid the most times at the Camp Nou. That honours falls to Migueli, who played 13 home matches against the side from the Spanish capital. But Barcelona captain Carles Puyol stands to equal that record on Saturday. Behind them in the list are César (12), Rifé (11), Asensi (10) and Rexach (10). (via FCBarcelona.com)

More Clasicos (total)

Xavi 31
Segarra 31
Migueli 30
Puyol 29
César 28

More Clasicos (at Camp Nou)

Migueli 25
César 24
Puyol 24
Xavi 23
Rexach 21
Rifé 21
Asensi 19
Zubizarreta 18

The second captain of FC Barcelona, Xavi Hernández believes that el clásico Barça-Madrid on Saturday at the Camp Nou is a matter of "heads or tails" as understood that the result occurs affect the development of la Liga.

"La Liga depends very much on this game and its outcome. Barça try to be the winner and that we get to a point. We are very excited to make a comeback in this league so hard to put us 10 points," he stated in an interview with the thematic channel 'Gol TV'.

The Barcelona player is confident that his team will play the style you are defining, without sacrificing any of its features. "Madrid has played in various ways and we have not changed the style in any game. We wanted the ball, we wanted to be players in the game," he noted.

"If Barça wins, will have choices in this league and in case of defeat, as the Madrid will be sentenced. Therefore, it is a coin flip game," he added.

In a lengthy interview at the Camp Nou, the Barcelona player has praised, as is customary in him, the coach Josep Guardiola, who has said that despite showing an image of being above everything and everyone not "too upset".

"We give enough chewing everything. We annoying little" added the player, who is convinced that Guardiola "is a fantastic coach. Dominates like no one tactical, the motivation ... is a person who, just by their presence , captive, and in this sense, we orgullosísimos Pep. "

Preparer's azulgrana, Xavi has stressed the motivational skills you have, which has pushed the azulgrana dressing room to conceive not compete "no win".

The continuity of Guardiola is still unknown at Barça, despite being about to enter the scene the last week of April, a fact that

"It is important to continue. To me, it's one of the key or most important person in all this gear, and would like to continue. But it depends," he opined. (via SPORT)

The Catalan midfielder, during an interview with UEFA.com, gives a bit of insight into what motivates him to keep on going after having won everything there is to win.

Xavi Hernández, FC Barcelona’s vice captain recently sat down with UEFA.com to answer questions posed by users that follow the European football organization on Twitter. In fact, the response to UEFA’s interview was so successful that the hashtag #AskXavi was catapulted to the number 1 spot on the worldwide trending topic list.

When asked to give his opinion on who the greatest player of all time is, Xavi was clear: “That's very difficult because you're comparing one era with another, but if he continues like this then I think Leo Messi will be the best player in the history of football without a doubt. Everything advances and develops so fast now, and yet Messi is doing the same thing as [Diego] Maradona did 20 years ago and as Pelé, [Johan] Cruyff and [Alfredo] Di Stéfano did many years ago. I think Messi will be the best.

“A sportsman, and a footballer in this case, never gets tired of winning,” said the Catalan midfielder when asked to give insight on how he stays motivated in a sport that’s brought him almost unparalleled success. Xavi finished by saying, “all sportsmen want to continue winning and to be great. This is what sport is all about and that competitive edge makes you want to keep on winning.”

You can read the full interview here. (via FCBarcelona.com)

Xavi Hernández defined the canterano as a footballer, "spectacular." He is convinced that Leo Messi is the best footballer of all time.

Xavi reviewed currently Barça in an interview via Twitter for the UEFA website.

Barça captain began showing his admiration for Leo Messi, who believes that "if it continues at this level will be the best player in football history without a doubt." "All advances and evolves in life, but Messi is doing the same thing 20 years ago Maradona or Pelé, Cruyff and Di Stefano before. I think Messi is the best," he predicted.

The '6' azulgrana spoke of the quarry and from whom, according to many, is seen as his' heir' in the center of the field: the young Thiago Alcantara: "I would not say it for him, because that would be under pressure and must be himself. I put up with such comparisons in the past and are not good. needs to be as it is, and is a spectacular player, with powers to be a crack barbarian, and he is showing. is a major player in Barça played many games this year and has a bright future ahead, "he said.

Xavi also explained who would have liked to play in the past: "I would have liked to match Zidane and Ronaldo. I have the fortune to play at Barça and the selection, so I've worked with many cracks and with great people and coaches that have taught me well. I wish I had been coached by Cruyff to see how it worked, because I have heard great things. You always want to play with big stars and personalities from the world of football, "he admitted.

The captain azulgrana, on the other hand, believes the key to the success of the Spanish-European champions and world-lies in "the philosophy of the team wanting the ball and possession. Despite losing the first game, the coach was a barbaric strong personality. That is the key to Spain. "

Xavi does not feel satiated title despite having won everything with Barça and selection: "It motivates me to keep winning. An athlete never gets tired of winning." (via SPORT)

Xavi Hernández will be the subject of special care in planning coaches have until end of season. The midfielder suffered discomfort in the soleus and to take the path of bitterness undertake not to force the machine to Xavi, who follow a training plan somewhat softer than their peers, with a specific exercise to prevent even always within the outline marked for the group.

The coaching staff has thoroughly planned every week between now and end of the season, once it is safe to be in the Champions League semi-finals and you know what days you play those games. There is no week without a game on a Tuesday or Wednesday and the club will play a minimum of eleven games, which will be twelve if you qualify for the Champions League final.

The intent of the coaches is, in principle, do recovery workouts after each game, with a more intense workload for those who have not played, but at this point with particular maintenance charges.

There will be weekly holiday whenever possible and Guardiola can repeat the pattern of granting extra days in special cases. In principle are provided for about forty-five working sessions until end of season.

Xavi, who technically is fully available to the coach because it is low, will be special attention because of their physical complaints and has established a working slower rate than their peers. Guardiola does not want to lose under any circumstances to the director of game and instructed to make it a priority to protect from possible injury.

Xavi was affected earlier in the week of their old pains in the soleus and missed two training sessions. He played sixty minutes against Milan, but the intention to dose their minutes to avoid injury. (via MD)

Iniesta, with 397 games, came on Saturday in the 'club of the ten', which were already Xavi, Puyol and Víctor Valdés.

The current Barça team is a legend and there are statistics that underscore: Xavi Hernández, Carles Puyol, Víctor Valdés and Andrés Iniesta, the four captains of the current campus, are already among the ten most-capped players in the 112 years of club .

Xavi, with 619 games, is the most capped player has worn the jersey of the first team with 70 games ahead of the second, Puyol. The defense, with 549, tied in the ranking with another historical myth, Migueli, who will be broken Tuesday morning Puyol if it is one of the side that faces the Milan.

The goalkeeper Víctor Valdés also has the honor to be in the 'Top Ten' presences. At the moment, is the fourth ex aequo with Carles Rexach, who as 'Panther Gavà' played 449 games. The presence of Valdes secure tomorrow's match at the Camp Nou will allow reach 450.

The latest to join this select dozen is Andres Iniesta. The '8' azulgrana celebrated with a goal against Athletic entering the 'Club 10', to play his game 397, equaling the record of Quimet Rifé. In a few months may have another illustrious representative of this template in the 'Top Ten', Leo Messi, who is also just 24 years and above the 300 games (317). (via MD)

The midfielder limped over by a sore Achilles' tendon Thursday but has worked normally.

Xavi Hernández has been trained as normal on Thursday at the Centro Sportivo Giacinto Facchetti (Interello), owned by Inter Milan. The midfielder finished Wednesday's game limping ostensibly. He himself said he had a sore Achilles tendon.

The headlines in the match against Milan have made a recovery session from 12 noon and have the afternoon free. Barcelona is expected to return to Barcelona this Friday morning.

The training has had a great atmosphere, which has been growing throughout the morning. On arrival the team expected some 600 amateur, while later there were about 1,000. (via MD)

FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández was very close to one of the controversial plays of the game but is aware of the need to move on.

The Terrassa did not hesitate when asked in the mixed zone for the actions he did not see Eriksson: "The penalty on Alexis is very clear," Xavi said categorically. It was one of the black notes of the crash, as well as the state of San Siro turf. "The field was not well and is key for us is a handicap. Now, we play it all at the Camp Nou" he said.

Despite all this, Xavi also made self-criticism: "We dominated a lot, especially in the first half, but we have forgiven. In turn I think will be a game like this, with Milan closed and looking for the counterattack."

And the message to the fans is as clear as the penalties did not see the Swede Eriksson. "To say that culés as ever and encourage them to come to the field. We want a full Camp Nou. With your help and we can move our game." (via SPORT)

On their Liga possibilities, he said “we’re self-critical. If we are ten points behind, it’s our own fault”.

“I think Guardiola’s happy,” he added. “He’s enjoying himself. I think he’ll renew” .

Guardiola or Messi? Who is most important to Barça, according to Xavi Hernández? "Why pick between the two if they could both still be at Barça for many more years?" he asked at a promotional event. Messi had said the day before that he reckons Guardiola is more important to the club, but putting things into perspective, Xavi feels that "Guardiola has given us a lot as a coach, both to the Club and the footballers, while it's Messi who makes the difference." As for the coach's future at Barça, the midfielder believes that "Guardiola is a fundamental part of all this. I think he's happy, he's enjoying himself. He's as competitive as ever, and from here on, it's his decision. I think he'll renew".

Xavi insists that the players aren't even contemplating the possibility of a change of manager. "He leads the squad" he said. "It is him who orders things, who imposes discipline, and does the tactical and psychological work".

One of the issues filling the pages of the sports dailies is one Xavi would rather see forgotten. "Too much is being said about referees. We don't want to talk about referees. We're self-critical. If we're ten points behind it's our own fault. We're doing things well, but perhaps not as well as in previous years."

Xavi also gets the impression that the successes achieved by FC Barcelona, winning 13 out of 16 possible titles, are not getting the recognition they deserve in the local media. "It seems that the Barça-Madrid war, in footballing terms, doesn't allow our successes to be seen. I think they appreciate us more outside of Spain", he said.

Xavi also insists that "we haven't given up on the league and we'll fight until the end, until we have no mathematical hope left. Madrid can slip up in any game. We are both finding it hard to win matches, especially away from home. I think Madrid are more likely to drop points away from home". (via FCBarcelona.cat)

The Catalan midfielder reckons the team are “putting in a great season” and after last night’s qualification for the Champions League quarter finals “we feel strong and dominant”

Xavi reflected on last night's amazing 7-1 win and claimed : "we are showing that we really are at a high level. We are feeling good, happy with the way we are playing and enjoying our performances" Asked whether the team feel invincible, Xavi replied: "we never feel that we are unbeatable. We feel strong and dominant, because we are creating chances and enjoying long periods of possession. That helps to make us feel secure in our game, but we aren't invincible - we are 10 points off the leaders in the league".

Xavi was subbed when the scores stood at 3-0 and Messi had already got his hat trick, but still had two more to score and he believes the Argentinean is "the best player in the world- maybe the best of all times. Football is moving on, but he stays the same. He deserves the admiration of any sportsman. He is incomparable, a one-off. There is no other player who can make such a difference - he'll break all the records".

With the team through to the quarter finals, Xavi was asked about the possibility of a final against Real Madrid: "that's just a hypothetical possibility. There's the draw and many games to play before that – and Madrid still have to play their second leg game".

Xavi also expressed his satisfaction with his own form: "I'm happy with my season so far – not just for my goals, but also because I've been involved in a lot of games and only had a few slight injuries. I'm in good form and helping the team". Xavi has played 36 games so far this campaign and scored 12 goals – just two short of his all time best for the Club. (via FCBarcelona.cat)

Before the game tonight, Xavi Hernandez will hand over the cheque that UEFA are presenting him, as captain of the Team of the Year for 2011.

Tonight, before the game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, UEFA will deliver, via the hands of a member of the Executive Committee, Peter Gilliéron, a cheque for 100,000 Euros to Xavi Hernadez, as the prize voted for by internet users, as captain of the Team of the Year for 2011. The midfielder from FC Barcelona will donate this money to the International Committee of the Red Cross, earmarked for the campaign 'Goals for the Red Cross', a project for the rehabilitation of victims of landmines in Afghanistan.

Xavi recognized that it is "an honor to be part of the team and also be the captain. I am very pleased to represent European and World football, and this time we are helping people who need it most, and it makes me very proud". The Barça player, very conscious of the need to help people most in need, added: "It is really important to help. We are very privileged people doing what we do, which is also our passion. Being a footballer is my job, but it's also my 'hobby' and my passion. I am very proud to be able to help people in need".

The FC Barcelona midfielder was voted for by over 100,000 users of the UEFA website as captain of the Team of the Year for 2011. In addition to these hundred thousand votes, the Barça player received 262,027, which allowed him to form part of the midfield of this ideal team. Xavi was not the only Barça player in the starting eleven, because also in the team were Alves, Piqué, Iniesta, and Messi, plus the manager, Pep Guardiola. (via FCBarcelona.com)

The Barça midfielder leads the way in the five main European leagues in terms of completed passes in the opposing half of the pitch (1553). Team-mates Messi and Alves are second and third respectively.

Xavi Hernandez is the passing king of the leading European football leagues – England, Italy, Germany, France and Spain – with 1553 completed passes in the opponents' half. As well as Xavi, the top five in this particular ranking feature Leo Messi (1351 passes), Xabi Alonso (1271), Dani Alves (1215) and Mikel Arteta (1207). That makes three out of five for Barça.

However, Xavi Hernandez not only leads the way when it comes to passes in the opposing half. He also tops the ranking in all completed passes with 2139, the only player to pass the 2000 mark. As such he's well ahead of Xabi Alonso (1985), Andrea Pirlo (1925), Philipp Lahm (1896) and Mikel Arteta (1804). (via FCBarcelona.com)

The player knows the bid and the interest of Milan.

Xavi Hernández has a proposal to leave Barcelona at the end of this season. The multimillion-dollar offer comes from the Parque de los Príncipes in Paris. There governs 70 percent of the shares of the Sheikh Tamim bin PSG Hamad Al Thani. The sheik has that goal between the eyes and make every effort to convince the international environment, under contract with Barcelona until 2014 (with the implementation of clauses could be extended without problems until 2016). The intention is to continue leading Xavi culé project waiting for Pep Guardiola gives the final yes to Sandro Rosell.

The real interest was made weeks ago when discreetly approached the football environment. If the number of zeros of the offer, Xavi had already packed their bags, but their moral commitment to the Barcelona apparently makes everything else is negotiable. Of course, Leonardo (set Paris sporting director) is very clear that it will get complicated footballer himself, since to do so, you should only pay 80 million euros to Barcelona, the price of its clause.

In Milan, in addition, they also look fondly to Xavi, but the starting price of the player makes it very difficult to move to San Siro. Could be rossonero seasons ago, but failed in the attempt. Without Andrea Pirlo, Milan feels orphaned and Xavi would be the best helmsman.

"Our strategy is to make the PSG one of the biggest clubs in the world." That was one of the reflections of bin Hamad Al Thani Tamim on CNN yesterday. It engaged the services of Ancelotti (technical), Leonardo (sports director) and Pastore, Gameiro, Menez or Motta. (via AS)

Anyway Xavi has acknowledged that he is in perfect condition.
Vicente del Bosque If it sees fit Xavi could play against Venezuela smoothly.

Chosen by Vicente del Bosque facing the game in this Feb. 29 against Venezuela in La Rosaleda stadium of Málaga being worked and on the lawn of the Ciudad Deportiva of Las Rozas. All but Xavi Hernández.

The Catalan midfielder is not participating in the first session of the Spanish national team, a workout that lasted about an hour, during which the players have made ​​some mini games and have exercised with the ball. The Terrassa has been working out recovery facilities the Ciudad Deportiva of Las Rozas, working with the physios. Remember that Xavi was one of those chosen by Pep Guardiola in the starting line that jumped Sunday to the Vicente Calderón in Barça's win by 1 to 2, after overcoming some discomfort in the soleus muscle.

Remember that Blaugrana coach already said he hoped the treatment would get Xavi Hernández by Vicente del Bosque and the coach body. "They're going to care as usual."

However, Xavi has told Mundo Deportivo: "I feel fine" and so if Vicente del Bosque could play it sees fit without problems to Venezuela. (via MD)

Xavi’s eleven goals this season are the most he has ever amassed in any of his 14 years as a member of the first team.

One of the most surprisingly pleasant aspects of Barça this season has been the number of goals scored by players that are not out-and-out strikers. Cesc has been revealed as a natural goal-getter, while without making a big song and dance about it, Xavi has also been on target regularly, and with much of the season still left to play, he has already beaten his previous best for a season. He's got 11 goals in 33 games: 7 in the league, 1 in the Champions League, 2 in the cup and 1 at the Clubs World Cup.

Xavi holds the all-time record for official appearances for the club: 610. In his 14 seasons as a pro he has scored 69 times, and the eleven this season is a personal record. His personal best until now was the 10 he scored in the 2008/09 season, but that figure, of course, corresponded to a full season of 59 matches.

It is in the league that his goalscoring form has particularly shown, with 7 goals in 19 games. He's actually thirteenth in the overall scoring charts this season, where Rayo's Michu (11) and Cesc himself (9) are the only midfielders to have been on target more. Xavi has already levelled his best ever league tally set in the 2007/08 season, and has plenty of games ahead of him in which to add even more. (via FCBarcelona.com)