Xavi recently gave an in-depth interview to Indian podcast host Prakhar Gupta. In the third part of the exclusive interview, Xavi discussed Real Madrid's "Galacticos," Barcelona's "Dream Team," comparisons between two generations of Spain's national team, and how Ronaldinho transformed Barcelona's spirit and mentality.

After Figo's transfer, Real Madrid assembled their first generation of Galacticos. They had Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and Luis Figo—truly a team that was extremely difficult to face.

That's absolutely right, I completely agree with you. Because they recruited Beckham, Ronaldo, Zidane, and also had Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Fernando Hierro—what an incredible lineup that was!

How could you beat them?

They were simply an unstoppable super team. It was very difficult to compete with them; they won the Champions League twice in three or four years. Football always has its cycles. This team built dominance not only in Spain but across Europe. Then, with Rijkaard's arrival, we rose again and won the Champions League trophy after Koeman's winning goal. We recruited great players like Ronaldinho, Eto'o, and Giuly, starting a new project during Laporta's first term as president. That's how football cycles work: Real Madrid were strong from 2000 to 2004, then we won everything under Rijkaard from 2004 to 2006; then from 2006 to 2008 we went through difficult times, and then Pep took over. I think for many people, everyone witnessed the birth of the greatest team of all time, and in my humble opinion, that's truly the best team that has ever existed. We played with an extraordinary style, we had the best generation of players in Spanish football history—Puyol, Iniesta, Valdés, Piqué, Villa, Pedro, Busquets, and so on—and we also had Messi. Having Messi was like having Michael Jordan on your team, having a multi-talented superstar. We had mature philosophy and tactical ideas, combined with the greatest players in history. Just imagine the dominance we built. From my perspective now, we should have won more Champions League titles during that period.

There were certainly some very close opportunities.

Yes, it was truly unfortunate—two very regrettable Champions League semifinals against Chelsea and Inter Milan. We should have won more Champions League trophies. But regardless, whether on the streets or when traveling abroad, everyone who sees me still remembers it clearly: "Wow, Barcelona—Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets." I'm very fortunate that everyone remembers that style of football so vividly. It's not just about winning matches, but about how we won them. This is Barcelona, this is the Catalan mentality and philosophy, our core belief. We want people to enjoy watching us play. As a coach, this is also my core objective now: to pass on everything I learned from this football philosophy to the current players, to pass down this philosophical concept generation after generation.

If the Spain team that won the 2010 World Cup played against the Spain team that won the 2024 Euros, who would win?

That's very difficult to answer.

It's not difficult at all—we all know the answer.

Everyone now says the 2010 generation was better than the current generation. Well, Spain's current team has Lamine Yamal, and the way Spain won the last Euros was truly impressive overall. The team's high pressing and defense built by Cubarsí, Laporte, Pedro Porro, and Cucurella were outstanding. I'm very pleased with this generation of players, but it's difficult to compare both teams directly. We had Iniesta, David Silva, Fàbregas, Busquets, Xabi Alonso, and many top midfielders. The current Spain team can perfectly control different phases of the match, with very fast defensive-to-attacking transitions, and attacking players like Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal, and Oyarzabal. The style is different. Our generation might have been technically superior.

I think your generation was more dominant in ball possession, winning two European Championships and one World Cup in four years—an unprecedented achievement.

And you know, it was Spain's first World Cup in history, everyone will remember it forever, because before that Spain had never won a World Cup and often got eliminated in the quarterfinals. So everyone will always remember that this generation started a winning era.

Under Rijkaard, you began establishing yourself as a core midfielder and developed rapidly on the pitch. At that time, you had Ronaldinho beside you, who was a superstar. There were later rumors about Ronaldinho's lifestyle, which caused him to gradually leave Barcelona's starting squad.

Regarding Ronaldinho, I must say, just like we discussed how Johan Cruyff changed Barcelona's mentality in the 1970s, Ronaldinho as a player greatly helped us during Rijkaard's tenure. He truly transformed the way we thought. In daily training before matches, everyone believed: as long as we have Ronaldinho, we're at least closer to winning; with Ronaldinho, we should be winning titles. He was the best player in the world at that time and completely restored our confidence. I remember he always had his signature smile, played samba-style football, and everyone at Barcelona revived their spirit. The whole world was talking about Ronaldinho playing for Barcelona. The mental change he brought to the club was truly comparable to Johan Cruyff—I mean as a player.

He simply enjoyed himself on the pitch, he danced on the pitch.

I remember he often said to me: "Xavi, come here, get close to me, hurry up." Wow, it felt like: "Okay, with Ronaldinho on the pitch, we're entering a new dimension of football." He transformed our spirit, and that's why we could win titles again. Of course, it wasn't just Ronaldinho; that generation of players was excellent, with Puyol, Valdés, Iniesta, and then Deco, Eto'o, Giuly, Rafa Márquez, and so on. We built a great championship team, and Ronaldinho played a crucial role in changing our team's mentality.

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