Xavi's Influence Had Been Waning, but Barcelona Will Greatly Miss His Presence

Luis Enrique sat at his post-match news conference, his Barcelona team having just captured a domestic double with victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Earlier, 56 minutes into that game at Camp Nou, Enrique had brought on Xavi for Andres Iniesta. Less than an hour later, the club captain had lifted the trophy—the 24th trophy of his Barca career. 

"He will leave here through the puerta grande, out the front door the right way," Enrique said of Xavi, relayed by Sid Lowe of the Guardian. "I am so pleased that he is able to leave like this."

The previous weekend, Xavi had lifted the league trophy. Here he was lifting the Spanish Cup. A week later, he would do the same with the European Cup—his 898th, 899th and 900th professional appearances all delivering a title and culminating in a historic treble.

Yet for Xavi, the 2014-15 season will rank among his least satisfying on a personal level. Under Enrique, Barcelona's midfield underwent a 12-month period of evolution that saw the team shift to a more forward-dependent model—one demanding a more vertical, stretched game and less time on the ball. Xavi, the conductor and metronome of the previous incarnation of Barca, was eased aside, supplanted by Ivan Rakitic. 

Sadly, inevitably, his time as the dominant central figure of the Blaugrana had come. His mind, intelligence, vision and control—the qualities that led to his nickname, La Maquina (the Machine)—had remained, but his centrality to the system hadn't. In Enrique's new-look team, his influence waned.

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In La Liga, Xavi started just half of his club's games. In the Champions League, he started just two. In the Copa del Rey, he didn't start one. Most frustrating for the 35-year-old would have been sitting on the bench against the big hitters: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris-Saint Germain and Juventus.

Barring his injury-interrupted campaign of 2005-06, you have to go back to 2000-01 to find a time when Xavi featured less, when he was battling for a place in the XI with his role model, Pep Guardiola.

It "wasn't an easy year," Xavi said of the season just gone in an interview with Sport (h/t Football Espana). "It was very difficult on both sporting and personal level."

But the careers of all greats have to reach their conclusion at some point. And Barcelona can be pleased that Xavi's exit wasn't abrupt. Instead, it was a gradual process over the course of a season littered with collective triumph. On the field, Enrique's team is as prepared as it could be for adjusting to Xavi's absence, yet his general presence will be sorely missed. Away from the pitch, in and around the dressing room, in difficult times, the veteran's departure will be keenly felt.

Xavi has become a standard bearer in Catalonia, an ultimate protector of values, respect, humility and honesty—cornerstones of his conduct, personality and disposition instilled at La Masia. Consider his explanation for his displeasure with Neymar at Barcelona's Champions League victory parade: "I said that they should stop messing about and concentrate on the people that had come out to wave as the bus passed. These parades are for the people after all," he told Sport (h/t Eurosport).

Such a comment wasn't made to denigrate a team-mate; it's Xavi showing his appreciation for the bigger picture—his appreciation of what Barcelona as a club means to a city, a region and a "nation." Xavi is emblematic of what has separated Barca from others. He's been at the heart of the club's identity. "He's the most important reference point this club has had," said Josep Maria Bartomeu, relayed by Lowe. In short, Xavi gets it. And you can't replace that or manufacture his wider influence. 

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Xavi's love for the game is also infectious for others. "There wasn't a single day went by when I didn't see him enjoy it," said Guardiola. "He is the most amateur player I know, and at the same time the most professional player too, such is his love for football."

His smile, joy and positivity rubs off on others, and as a leader, he unites men, just as he did for Spain at the height of the animosity between Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2011-12. 

It's why Xavi has been more than a footballer for Barca. He's been an icon. A symbol. A captain. A leader. A standard bearer. An upholder of values. A catalyst for unity. A reference point. Thiago Alcantara described him as "eternal."

So even though he walked out via the puerta grande, it's a door nonetheless. And those remaining behind it will greatly miss him.