Topics: Xavi, Barcelona, Football, La Liga, Athletic Bilbao
It is now three years since Xavi hung up his boots but the Barcelona boss has clearly not lost any of his talent after wowing fans with an incredible piece of skill against Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona thrashed Bilbao 4-0 at the Nou Camp on Sunday thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
The win moved Barcelona back to within three points of rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Dembele produced a man-of-the-match performance, having a hand in all four goals to help secure a comfortable win for the home side.
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And Barcelona head coach Xavi also caught the eye, and not only for his tactical decisions during the match.
In the 30th minute, with Barcelona already winning 3-0, Xavi expertly controlled a huge clearance from Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon which had drifted into his technical area.
The crowd at the Nou Camp let out an audible gasp as the Barcelona midfielder brought the ball under his control with the type of silky control he regularly produced during his playing career.
"That is almost the best control we've seen all night," said the commentator on Premier Sports.
Barcelona fans on social media were equally as impressed with the former Spain international.
"He would start in any team if he was still playing. What a maestro," one fan posted on Twitter.
Another wrote: "Greatest Midfielder OAT."
While a third joked: "When the coach has a better first touch than most of the players on the pitch on both sides."
Xavi is widely viewed as one of the greatest midfielders in the history of football.
He scored 85 goals in 767 games for Barcelona and is second on the all-time appearance list for the Catalan club, behind only seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.
As a player as the Nou Camp, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and the Champions League four times, as well as numerous other trophies.
He was also a key figure in the dominant Spain team that won back-to-back European Championships in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010.
Xavi left Barcelona to join Al-Sadd in 2015 before retiring in 2019 to become head coach of the Qatari side.
He later returned to Barcelona in 2021 to become head coach, replacing Ronald Koeman who was sacked after just 14 months in charge.
