Xavi coming near to Retirement

Barcelona midfielder Xavi says that his playing days may be over sooner rather than later. The Spaniard was widely expected to leave Barcelona in the summer for a couple of years in the Middle East or MLS.

This did not happen after the 34-year-old decided to extend his spell at Barcelona, where he has been at since the start of his career. Xavi undoubtedly attained his peak at the age of 28 and this coincided with an impeccable spell for Barcelona. During a period of five years, this Catalan club played outstanding football and it was largely orchestrated byXavi.

Despite announcing his international retirement after the end of the World Cup 2014, it looks likeXavi may not be playing for much longer. Continue reading Xavi coming near to Retirement

Barcelona Wins 2-0 Against Ajax; Messi Scores Two Goals For His Team

Luis Enrique, the manger of Barcelona, considers Messi to be the best player ever seen by him.

Raul has the record of scoring the most number of goals in Champions League but Messi, by scoring two goals for his team in the match against Ajax has touched the record. The total number of goals Messi scored in this competition is now 71.

As Barcelona lost two matches consecutively they were under a lot of pressure and hence winning this match was very important for them. Though winning the match was not very difficult for Barcelona. Ajax performed well in the first half but Messi’s goal in the 36th minute of the game gave Barcelona the lead. He scored his second goal in the 76th minute of the game which demolished Ajax’s hope of making a comeback. At times it seemed that Messi would score a third goal in the match and thereby set a new record.

Barcelona had the ball in their possession for only 48% of the time. Frank de Boer, coach of the Ajax team regretted not getting a reward in spite of playing well. Luis Enrique thinks that the team can make improvements in certain areas of their game but he is satisfied nevertheless. Luis Suarez said that no other player in the world is as good as Messi and he considers playing alongside Messi to be a great honour.

Xavi Hernandez said that having Messi on the team gives them the edge over other teams.  He said that winning the match has elevated their level of confidence. Xavi considers that the team has performed well enough in the match and hence deserved to win. Xavi considers Ajax to be a tough opponent and he further added that it was hard for them to keep the ball in possession. Winning the match ensured Barcelona’s place in the knockout stage of the competition

Jagielka not hopeful about international career

Everton defender Phil Jagielka has claimed that he is not to hopeful about his international career after being demoted to the bench due to a string of poor performances especially at the World Cup 2014. The 32-year-old has been a first choice for England ever since the retirement of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. He has formed a partnership with Gary Cahill of Chelsea, but England’s defence was heavily criticised during a poor World Cup. It appears that Jagielka is paying the price for this negativity after being on the bench for the recent round of European qualifying matches.

The former Sheffield United player is aware that time is certainly not on his side right now. Roy Hodgson has been looking to favour youth players in order to build for the future. This certainly was the philosophy during the World Cup 2014 squad selection, as a number of experienced players like Michael Carrick were left out. England are not appear to be targeting just the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, but the tournament and beyond. In his absence, United defender Phil Jones has been getting regular run out in the England team. Jagielka says that he cannot much apart from training well and playing with his best ability.

“I am not particularly confident. It is up to the manager and all I can do is play well for Everton. I don’t feel the World Cup has left a mark. It is an obvious assumption to make because it has not been great. It does not feel nice, that is the easiest way of saying it, but the [England] manager has a job to do. If he is looking to build for the future, that can work against me, but if you start looking too deeply at things, it is not going to do me any favours,” said Jagielka.