Xavi played in his final match at Camp Nou this weekend as he'll leave Barcelona after 17 seasons on the first team.

"I’ve enjoyed it as a child. And I’ve also suffered. Because I now feel happy and I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and of the way I’m leaving. But I’ve passed through bad moments, I’ve suffered a lot, honestly."

Xavi was asked why he's leaving Barcelona.

"Because it’s time. My head tells me that and my body is giving me signs. My heart doesn’t, my heart belongs to Barça and it will stay here."

Barcelona went through a period of five seasons of no trophies following the departure of Louis van Gaal.

"We lost the essence. We changed coaches often; we didn’t have any stability until Rijkaard came. And Ronaldinho. When we won we did so by having possession, by playing the ball, by attacking to defend, showing our essence.

"Our only solution is to be ourselves. If we don’t respect our style nothing makes sense, it’s proven. But there were times, when we didn’t win, when we doubted our way and nothing was good. Here the first thought is to look for a guy who is 1.80-meter-tall and very strong. And that’s not the answer. What we need are players that understand our essence, the concept of the third man, the pass that creates superiority."

Xavi nearly left Barcelona a year ago, but ultimately stayed one more season.

"I felt good vibes, I was over the pain of losing La Liga at home and without playing; over the pain of the World Cup, which was brutal. I knew that Luis Suárez was coming, I talked to Luis Enrique and he told me: “Pelopo, think carefully!” And my feeling was that it was going to be a good year. I told my teammates on the chat: “Guys, I’m staying for another season, because this looks promising.” Luis has treated me perfectly because he never lied. And that’s a big thing. Honorable and direct. I could be mad at him because I didn’t play a lot, but it’s the opposite, I owe him one because he was one of the guys who did the most to get me to stay. I recovered my enthusiasm. And I spoke to Zubi, who was great to me. I feel very bad about what happened to him. This League also belongs to him. The day I told them I was leaving he came home with me and made me think that maybe it wasn’t my time to go yet. Thankfully I decided to stay."

Xavi also almost left before Pep Guardiola became manager in 2008.

"I had an offer from Bayern Munich and I was willing to leave, it’s true. And he told me: “Xavi, I can’t imagine the team without you, it’s impossible.” And I said: “Okay, I’m staying.” An impressive coach. Maybe that’s also because we saw things the same way; we understand football in an identical way. All the stars were aligned during those years with Pep. We had an extraordinary team. But it wasn’t a coincidence, we worked a lot and we were very superior to our rivals. I have a theory: Barça needs to be very superior to Madrid, otherwise we don’t win. They close ranks: the press, the spirit of Juanito, thecómo no te voy a querer (how could I not love you)… We’re either good, or nothing. If we’re at the same level they can build themselves up with things we don’t have here; here the dynamic is always negative, there it’s always positive."