Xavi dismisses Mourinho achievements

The former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan boss is only one of three men to have won the Champions League with two different clubs, after Omar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel.

However, Xavi, a winner of six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues in his own right, does not believe Mourinho deserves to be ranked in the same category as recently departed Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.

"[Jose] Mourinho will not go down in football history," he told Reserved Area on Canal+. "For me, [Pep] Guardiola is the best and has been the best during the four years he spent in charge.

"He has revolutionised football. Chelsea won the Champions League this year and yet Barca remain the benchmark for world football."

His comments come shortly after he slammed some of the Real Madrid players’ attitudes last week, risking inflaming tensions in Spain’s Euro 2012 training camp.

Xavi claimed, "We have congratulated them when they won. That is sport at the end of the day. We have been very respectful with them. However, I have noted that it wasn't the same in reverse."

He also played down Cristiano Ronaldo’s chances of receiving the prestigious Ballon d’Or award this year after the Portuguese forward fired the Madrid club to the La Liga title.

Xavi believes team-mate Lionel Messi is the only deserving player of the award, explaining, "He's the best player I've seen in my life.

"It would be an injustice if any other player won the Ballon d'Or, because no other player is at his level. Messi has helped me to become a better player."

ByJosh Butler

Nick Moore

Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.