Football News– Barca

The former Barca legend Xavi was critical about their arch rivals Madrid’s playing style as he  talked about   his former companion Lionel Messi as well.

Xavi avouches that their fierce rivals Madrid do not know how to play beautiful football like Barcelona.

Last season Los Blancos side won the LA Liga silverware and also the Champions league glory but this season they are 16 points away from the League leader Barca and they are struggling hard in the La Liga.

Xavi feels Real Madrid lack the culture of beautiful football like Barcelona has, and he highlighted Jose Mourinho’s time at charge in Madrid.

Xavi said: "Barcelona is the final exam for a player,"

"It is the most difficult club and the most demanding in the world. Madrid do not play so beautifully. At the Bernabeu, if a defender hoofs the ball into the stand it is fine. That is the culture. The fans applaud.

"At the Camp Nou you knock the ball into the stand and the grumbles are so loud it is negative. Since [Johan] Cruyff's time."

The former Barcelona man added: "Mourinho's Madrid hit the ball direct over the top. Mourinho told his players never to stop the ball, to play quickly and then [Angel] Di Maria, Cristiano [Ronaldo] or [Karim] Benzema would break. Now they do it with [Gareth] Bale. They don't want to play football."

"Madrid break apart, seven players attack and Casemiro stays back on his own to cover the centre,"

. "[Barca midfielder Sergio] Busquets cannot do that as even I am faster than he is. Casemiro is super fast, but he has trouble with everything else as he has not worked on it.

"He has other characteristics, is more defensive, makes more tackles, covers more ground, but he does not dominate space-time. If you had started with Casemiro aged 12, 13, 15, then he would have that."

This season the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi also upstaged Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga, where Messi has 16 goals in his name in La Liga, where  Ronaldo only has 4.