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Xavi was absent during Barcelona’s latest La Liga match as they overcame Getafe with a comfortable 5-2 final scoreboard. According to the medical staff of the team Xavi picked up an injury on his right leg and the head coach Tata Martino decided to give him a day off and rest him for their match against Getafe.

Leg injuries are nothing new for the Spanish midfielder as he already had suffered from a hamstring injury on his left leg back in November and had to miss 1 week of action for Barcelona, which was nothing too serious and now it is believed that he will be back in action by their next match against Elche and he was only rested for Getafe’s match as a precaution.

It’s no secret that for Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez is probably one of the more influential players on the pitch considering their playing style that relies on quick and short passes being spread around between all the players on the field and it has been long considered that Xavi has unrivaled passing efficiency even compared to Italy’s Andrea Pirlo.

Despite having some of their star players out injured, Barcelona have managed to cope with the absence of Valdes, Messi and Xavi accordingly as they continue on winning their respective matches and claiming points that maintain them at the top of the Spanish League with 46 points and having only suffered 1 loss so far in the season.

When the Spanish midfielder was asked about the Ballon d’Or he went on talking about the hard work that Franck Ribery and Cristiano Ronaldo have done to claim the award but had special praise to his teammate Lionel Messi as he considers the Argentine not only the best player in the world but the best player in history according to him.

“Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribéry have both done a lot to deserve the Ballon d’Or, but for me the best player in the world, and already the best ever, is Messi, without a shadow of doubt”. He was not eligible to vote for the award, but was convinced who he’d have voted for if he could.

Xavi has said that he hopes his team Barcelona recovers well from the defeat against the Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam.

In their previous Champions League game against Ajax, Barcelona suffered a 1-2 defeat. That was an away game for them, but, the kind of form they had been in, one had expected them to secure 3 points, but, a determined Ajax team stunned them.

The victory of Ajax was even more remarkable because of the fact that they played with only 10 guys for a large part of the game as one of their main players Joel Veltman had been shown red card in the 48^th minute.

Talking to the reporters on Thursday about that game against Ajax, Xavi said, “It was the first game that we lost this season and I am hoping that it doesn’t have adverse effects on us.”

“We still have to play a match against Celtic and we will be playing that match on our home ground. So, I reckon we are still the favourites to finish first in our group.”

When asked if getting trailed by a couple of goals put his team under huge amount of pressure, Xavi said, “Yes, it did. It’s never easy to bounce back after getting down by two goals. I think there was lack of intensity in our game that day. Yes, we did raise our game a bit in the latter half, but, they had already done enough damage before that.”

Despite that defeat against Ajax, Barcelona didn’t move down in the Group H points table. They are still at the first position with 10 points in 5 games.

Barcelona’s next game is a La Liga encounter against Athletic Bilbao. That game will be played at San Mames on Sunday.

Many are of the opinion that Barcelona midfielder Xavi is coming to the end of his glittering career. The 34-year-old does not appear to have many years left in him, but Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla does not think so. According to him, Xavi is one of the best footballers on the planet. He is also extremely good at taking care of himself, which is the reason why he has been performing at the top level even at 34. He has praised the energy levels of Xavi by saying that he would be more than delighted have the same freshness at that age.

Xavi is a name synonymous with the passing style of football that has become so crucial to Barcelona. For all the praise that the likes of Messi and Iniesta get for scoring goals, it is the work done by Xavi that is crucial to their success. Cazorla has recognised this and has said that he would be happy to reach the level of Xavi by the time he retires. The former Malaga midfielder has been an instant hit at Arsenal since his £ 12 million move to the Premier league. Even though he will get competition from the likes of Mesut Ozil and the much improving Aaron Ramsey, Cazorla is expected to play a key role in Arsenal’s season nonetheless.

“I would love to reach his age and be as fresh as he is. He is one of the best players around, he’s a specialist in his position and no-one comes close to him. I can’t stand it when people say things like that,” said Arsenal midfielder, who has played with the 34-year-old at international level. During his stellar career Xavi has made an incredible 688 appearances for Barcelona. He has found the back of the net on 82 occasions being primarily known for his passing ability.