FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.12.2009 18:48

Xavi to make 500th appearance

Jordi Clos

Xavi Hernández has become the second player in the history of FC Barcelona to reach 500 completive matches with the first team. Over the last eleven years he accumulated an impressive collection of medals.

Xavi Hernández looks set to become a legend in the history of the Club. On Wednesday afternoon he made his 500th appearance and became only the second player, after Migueli (548), to reach this magical figure.

Eleven years at the top

Xavi joined the Club’s youth academy in 1991 at the age of 11 and went on to make his first team debut in 1998 in a Super Cup match against Mallorca. Now, eleven years later the 29-year-old has made 333 league appearances (putting him in second place in the Club’s all-time ranking) and 100 in the Champions League, more than any other player in the Club’s history. Along the way he has scored 49 goals.

A living symbol of the Barça style

Ever since he made his debut, under Louis van Gaal, Xavi has earned the confidence of every Barça manager and taken his place at the heart of Barça’s midfield creation. His influence is so great that he is seen as a living symbol of Barça’s style of football, based on possession and attractive attacking football.

The one medal he lacks

The win against Atlante means that Xavi is just one match away from winning the only medal he lacks in his collection – the World Club Cup. He has already won the Champions League twice, the Spanish league four times, the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup once each and the European Super Cup three times.

On an individual level he has also been showered with awards. Finalist in the FIFA World Player 2008, best midfielder in the Champions League 2009, third in the Golden Ball 2009 and once of five candidates for the FIFA World Player 2009.