Lionel Messi Is Barcelona’s Heart But Xavi Is The Brain And The Lungs

[Solid Snake]

Goal.com takes a look at some interesting numbers in this unstoppable Barca machine...

The whole world is talking about only one player today and it’s likely that he will be the player the whole world will be talking about for the rest of the year.

Lionel Messi’s show-stopper display against Arsenal on Tuesday night all but confirmed the Argentine as the greatest footballer in the world at present. But he is by no means a one man show at Barcelona and there are interesting statistics to prove that.

One of Barca’s ever-present key figures is Mr. Consistency, Xavi. His performances may not always stand out like Messi’s hat-trick and four-goal heroics or Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s crucial match winners, but the midfield architect is the kind of cerebral player who performs like a machine rather than a showman, quietly running in the background without hogging the spotlight.

Xavi is the brain and the lungs of this Barcelona team that keeps the heart, Messi, constantly beating at astonishing rates.

The midfield playmaker isn’t the fastest player and looking at him physically, you wouldn’t think that he’d be the fittest. But the work rate that he does to keep this Barca team ticking like a human body toned to perfection is illustrated in the numbers below.

MATCHDAY 1: (A) vs Inter



The clash that was dominated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return to San Siro, but the game fizzled out quickly as Inter set up shop from the get go to frustrate Guardiola’s Armada and the contest ended 0-0.

Passes (Completed/Total)

Xavi: 81/97 (84%)
Eric Abidal: 59/75 (79%)
Seydou Keita: 69/68 (87%)
Toure Yaya: 57/65 (88%)
Inter’s best - Wesley Sneijder: 24/43 (56%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 10.82 km
Dani Alves: 10.22 km
Seydou Keita: 9.9 km
Toure Yaya: 9.23 km
Inter’s best – Thiago Motta: 10.26 km

MATCHDAY 2: (H) vs Dynamo Kiev



The Blaugrana had to face yet another compact, stubborn, disciplined side and it was a question of whether Barca’s attacking persistence or Dynamo’s defensive tenacity would triumph at the end of the day. Attacking persistence won as the hosts claimed a 2-0 victory.

Passes

Xavi: 83/103 (81%)
Dani Alves: 71/92 (77%)
Carles Puyol: 66/72 (92%)
Seydou Keita: 61/70 (87%)
Dynamo’s best – Artem Milevskiy: 17/32 (53%)

Distance Covered

Dani Alves: 11.59 km
Seydou Keita: 10.72 km
Eric Abidal: 10.49 km
Xavi: 9.31 km
Dynamo’s best – Artem Milevskiy: 11.18 km

MATCHDAY 3: (H) vs Rubin Kazan



The shock home defeat to the then relatively unknown Russians. Barcelona thought they had already negotiated their two toughest assignments in Inter and Dynamo, but Rubin had other ideas as the stunned the Camp Nou with a 2-1 win.

Passes

Xavi: 88/98 (90%)
Eric Abidal: 88/98 (90%)
Andres Iniesta: 82/94 (87%)
Gerard Pique: 69/80 (86%)
Rubin’s best – Alejandro Dominguez: 24/39 (62%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 12.07 km
Dani Alves: 11.33 km
Eric Abidal: 10.9 km
Gerard Pique: 10.82 km
Rubin’s best – Alejandro Dominguez: 11.08 km

MATCHDAY 4: (A) vs Rubin Kazan



Barca were looking to avenge their home defeat from the previous matchday, but all they could see in Kazan was an endless wall of Rubin players and a 0-0 scoreline up on the board at the end of the 90 minutes.

Passes

Xavi: 92/107 (86%)
Dani Alves: 77/101 (76%)
Eric Abidal: 77/86 (90%)
Andres Iniesta: 58/80 (73%)
Rubin’s best – Cristian Ansaldi: 21/39 (54%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 12.2 km
Dani Alves: 11.16 km
Eric Abidal: 11.16 km
Andres Iniesta: 11.05 km
Rubin’s best – Sergei Semak: 12.73km

MATCHDAY 5: (H) vs Inter



Barca didn’t get their revenge against Rubin, but they did against Inter. Guardiola’s side were frustrated in the reverse clash in Italy, but at the Camp Nou, they put on a footballing clinic to dispatch the Nerazzurri 2-0.

Passes

Xavi: 80/95 (84%)
Andres Iniesta: 67/87 (77%)
Eric Abidal: 66/79 (84%)
Sergio Busquets: 64/76 (84%)
Inter’s best – Maicon: 46/67 (69%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 11.07 km
Dani Alves: 10.71 km
Andres Iniesta: 10.53 km
Sergio Busquets: 10.28 km
Seydou Keita: 9.73 km
Inter’s best – Thiago Motta: 10.32 km

MATCHDAY 6: (A) vs Dynamo Kiev



In the icy cold conditions in Ukraine, Barcelona’s engine sputtered, but they still managed enough to come back from a goal down to win 2-1 and secure qualification to the round of 16 as group winners.

Passes

Sergio Busquets: 71/80 (89%)
Seydou Keita: 65/77 (84%)
Lionel Messi: 64/77 (83%)
Xavi: 57/70 (81%)
Dynamo’s best – Andriy Yarmolenko: 7/26 (27%)

Distance Covered

Dani Alves: 10.47 km
Seydou Keita: 10.36 km
Xavi: 10.2 km
Eric Abidal: 9.75 km
Dynamo’s best – Ognjen Vukojevic: 10.37 km

LAST 16: (A) vs VfB Stuttgart



Going into the knockout phase, Barca had only won once in their three away group games and they had to come from behind again to salvage a 1-1 draw.

Passes

Xavi: 81/94 (86%)
Gerard Pique: 78/94 (83%)
Sergio Busquets: 74/80 (93%)
Andres Iniesta: 61/74 (82%)
Stuttgart’s best – Cristian Molinaro: 31/46 (67%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 12.22 km
Andres Iniesta: 11.33 km
Sergio Busquets: 11.03 km
Carles Puyol: 10.57 km
Stuttgart’s best – Sami Khedira: 12.35 km


LAST 16: (H) vs VfB Stuttgart



This was the only game in the Champions League where Xavi did not feature in, but it didn’t look like Barca missed him as they crushed the German side 4-0 thanks to a certain Lionel Messi.

Yaya Toure would take over Xavi’s position in midfield and it was no surprised that me mustered up the most passes of any player on the pitch, albeit just 52 out of 62 completed, while Pedro would chip in as the workhorse with 11.45 km of distance covered, the highest of anyone on the night.

QUARTER-FINALS: (A) vs Arsenal



There was a worrying trend of how the Blaugrana were struggling to win their away fixtures in this competition. The concerns were put to bed by a majestic first half performance and two goals in the second half, but they were eventually pegged back as the Gunners rescued the tie with a 2-2 draw.

Passes

Xavi: 92/112 (85%)
Dani Alves: 73/97 (75%)
Sergio Busquets: 77/87 (89%)
Gerard Pique: 70/79 (89%)
Arsenal’s best – Cesc Fabregas: 31/39 (79%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 12.36 km
Dani Alves: 11.69 km
Sergio Busquets: 11.66 km
Pedro: 11.47 km
Arsenal’s best – Cesc Fabregas: 12.25 km

QUARTER-FINALS: (H) vs Arsenal



Still fresh in everyone’s mind, no doubt. This was to be Messi’s night of nights when he showed to the world just who the best player in the world is with four outrageous goals. But there were also a few other top performers who quietly pulled the strings.

Passes

Xavi: 95/105 (90%)
Gaby Milito: 61/72 (85%)
Dani Alves: 53/64 (83%)
Rafa Marquez: 64/71 (90%)
Arsenal’s best – Bacary Sagna: 46/58 (79%)

Distance Covered

Xavi: 12.56 km
Dani Alves: 11.76 km
Sergio Busquets: 11.72 km
Seydou Keita: 10.73 km
Arsenal’s best – Denilson: 12.26 km

Over the course of the two matches Xavi missed just 15 of his 244 passes, an accuracy of 93%. In fact, the midfielder completed more passes (229) than Abou Diaby, Denilson, Fabregas and Nasri combined (203) over the two legs.

[Solid Snake]

Xavi does it again in El Clasico with 2 assists! What a Legend

[D10]

Couldn't agree more, Xavi has periferal vision like a radar! What I wasn't aware of was the amount of ground he is covering per game, amazing work rate to compliment his skills.

[Solid Snake]

He just makes it look so simple. I love him, very humble, hardworking, consistent. We are very privileged to see him play.

[D10]

Definitley, he's a bit of an un-sung hero really.

[Rifat Mansur]

What a match that was! The Best (Ronaldo) versus the Best (Messi). This match showed that Messi is better than Ronaldo.

[Rifat Mansur]

Messi is definitely the heart of Barcelona. The team is alive because of him. He is the b