Whether it be club football or the international scene, Xavi has come to epitomize a philosophy and an era of dominance.
The central cog in the clockwork, the Barcelona man's hunger for possession helped lead Barcelona and Spain to glorious periods of success.
Today, the Spain adventure came to an end, but for at least another season the 34-year-old will continue to wear the shirt of Barcelona as he has done for his entire career.
Our European football correspondent Graham Hunter regards Xavi as the greatest Spanish footballer ever, but is slightly surprised that he is staying at Barca after a more marginal 2013/14 under Tata Martino and the criticism he endured at the World Cup.
"I'm surprised that he's decided to wait and see whether that confidence and self-belief has been fully repaired in the matter of a couple of weeks. But what has happened is that Luis Enrique is chalk and cheese to Martino in terms of the brand of football he wants to play and the clarity he will bring to conversations about how much people are going to play," said Graham, who mused whether Xavi is feeling the winds of change at the Camp Nou and perhaps sees Enrique in the same light as he saw Pep Guardiola in the summer of 2008.
Graham also praised the work done by Enrique so far in his first pre-season as Barcelona manager, "pressing all the right buttons".
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