Andrea Pirlo and Xavi are two of a
dying breed. Midfielders more about
technique than physique, their styles
seem suited to a bygone era, yet they
have been able to dominate for a
generation in the maelstrom that is the
modern game.
Soon they will both be gone. Xavi is off
to Qatar at the end of the current
campaign, bidding farewell to his
beloved Barcelona after more than two
decades at the Catalan club. Pirlo,
meanwhile, is considering a summer
exit and has said a Champions League
win would be a fitting finale to his
career at this level.
Xavi is now 35 and Pirlo 36 and both
are slightly past the peak of their
powers, yet they remain vital players for
their respective clubs and brought
success to their national teams, too.
Xavi helped Spain to a World Cup win in
2010 and back-to-back European
Championship crowns in 2008 and
2012; Pirlo also won the World Cup with
Italy in 2006 and was a losing finalist
against Xavi and La Roja at Euro 2012.
But which one was the better player?
As the two midfielders meet again for
one last time at the highest level in
Saturday's Champions League final in
Berlin, two Goal writers take up the
debate...
'Pirlo was more of a match-winner than
Xavi'
By Kris Voakes
Xavi rightly leaves Barcelona with
people bandying about titles such as
‘legend’ and ‘all-time great’. His impact
on the club cannot be questioned, while
he similarly impacted Spain during one
of the most successful periods ever
enjoyed in international football.
But on Saturday he comes up against a
man every bit as worthy of such
platitudes.
Andrea Pirlo has been to more than one
club what Xavi has been to Barcelona.
Like Xavi, he has also had a significant
impact at international level, playing a
key role in Italy’s 2006 World Cup win
and providing the heartbeat of the
Azzurri side ever since. Like so many
comparisons, this is one which cannot
be measured by winners’ medals alone.
While Pirlo has worked with a string of
star performers during his career, he
hasn’t been granted anything like the
stability enjoyed by Xavi. Turfed out by
Inter when they couldn’t get the best
from him, he was reborn as a deep-
lying playmaker at Milan. Then when
Massimiliano Allegri got shot of him
despite his immense record with the
Rossoneri, he arrived at Juventus and
transformed their fortunes almost
single-handedly.
The Italian has been a more direct
influence on sides over a greater period
of time. When a game needed
somebody to take a real stranglehold on
proceedings, he never shirked the
responsibility. So often, he made it
known that he felt the need to be the
dominant personality in the game,
gliding gracefully around all parts of the
pitch, showing for the ball and looking
for the key pass at every turn.
His set-piece quality is something to
behold, and if you have sat behind the
path of a Pirlo arrow heading for the net
then you have experienced one of the
greatest joys football can provide. Xavi
might have laid many a platform for
victory, but Pirlo was more often the
match-winner. He found more ways to
influence a game, and had more to say
in key moments.
At his best, Pirlo was the closest
football gets to perfection.
Follow Kris Voakes on
'Xavi is probably the game's greatest
midfielder ever'
By Ben Hayward
Long before the emergence of Neymar
and Luis Suarez alongside Lionel Messi
in Barcelona's brilliant forward line, the
club's success was built on probably
the greatest midfield football has ever
seen. And it was led wonderfully by one
man: Xavi.
When he made his debut for the
Catalan club in 1998, Xavi was under
incredible pressure as he was dubbed
as a long-term replacement for captain
Pep Guardiola. Such was the burden
that the younger man felt, that he
almost left Camp Nou altogether.
Instead, however, he stayed, eclipsed
his illustrious former team-mate and
became the fulcrum of the greatest
Barca and Spain sides in history. If one
man symbolises the Tiki Taka style
employed by both the Blaugrana and La
Roja between 2008 and 2014, it is Xavi.
No player makes more passes in a
game than the Catalan midfielder. While
Andrea Pirlo's impact is intermittent,
Xavi's influence is constant: he is
always there, making things tick,
passing, pressing and controlling his
team's possession philosophy - and he
did it better than anyone else for so
many years.
His excellence cannot be measured in
goals or even assists. Xavi is all about
ball control and recycling possession,
almost always giving his team-mate a
better option than the one he had
himself. He made what was hugely
complicated appear effortlessly easy -
and Barca have had to change their
style in 2014-15 as he reaches the
twilight of a wonderful playing career at
this level.
But he has remained important and in
his last appearance at Camp Nou, Xavi
claimed his 24th trophy for the Catalan
club. No player has won more in the
history of Spanish football and while
Messi has obviously been key in
Barca's spectacular success in recent
years, Xavi was equally important for a
number of seasons.
Not many players can say they have
helped change the history of both their
club and country on a football field, but
Xavi can and he is probably the
greatest midfielder the game has ever
seen.

omo u wan take style mock pirlo?
How could u compare xavi with my chuck norris?. The God of passes. Infact i don vex
am outta here

seankafor:
omo u wan take style mock pirlo?
How could u compare xavi with my chuck norris?. The God of passes. Infact i don vex
am outta here

No I am not, but this is a debate, and if u think pirlo is the superb then, prove ur point.

Never in your life compare greatest PIRLO with xavi..haba igi mu ji na si ori

Pirlo