Xavi: Mourinho will not go down in footballing history

Posted Saturday, June 09, 2012 by Goal.com

Xavi has stated that Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho will not go down in football history due to his inferiority to outgoing Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

During the four years that the 41-year-old was in charge of Blaugrana, the Catalan club claimed a number of trophies, and won widespread acclaim for their attractive, attacking brand of football.
And Xavi feels that the Portuguese man will forever be in Guardiola's shadow.

"Mourinho is not going to go down in football history," the Spain star told Canal+. "For me, the best is Guardiola, and in the four years that he has been leading the club, he has revolutionised football.

"For example, Chelsea won the Champions League this year, but the club [Barca] remains the benchmark in world football."

Since the former Inter boss took charge in the Spanish capital, the on-pitch rivalry between the two old enemies intensified, although Xavi believes that the media sensationalised it beyond its true worth.

"The press were much to blame as well, because it created a tension that was almost fictional. It's true that there was tension, but not as much as ws said.

"I'm great friends with Iker [Casillas, Real Madrid captain] and that always comes above everything."

Xavi is currently gearing up to compete with Spain in Euro 2012, and the 32-year-old believes that a penalties victory over Italy in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals marked a turning point in La Roja's fortunes.

"The day of the quarter-final against Italy," he commented. "We got lucky, and we had Iker for penalties. Our bad luck changed.

"We got carried away, and produced some special football against Russia in the semi-final and then in the final [against Germany]. Nobody believed in us. That really hurt."

Spain get their defence of the European Championship title underway against Italy at 18:00CET on Sunday.