Xavi initially thought Louis van Gaal was an "idiot" when he first met him as manager of Barcelona.

“After two days of training under him I thought, ‘Who is this idiot?’ After a week, I thought, ‘He’s right.’ He’ll always be in my heart, Louis van Gaal,” Xavi said.

“[He is a] good person, very good trainer. He has a very strong character but he’s calm in the Premier League because there’s less pressure.

“He’s much calmer than when he was at Barça or Bayern Munich. He’s honest, methodical and a real perfectionist. He’s very demanding, he’s strict and he wants to achieve the highest levels possible. He’s a tough fighter, yet he put trust into me when I was 17 and 18 years old.”