Football
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Sergio Busquets backed to be future Barcelona captain by Xavi Hernandez

Outgoing Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez says that fellow midfielder Sergio Busquets is "destined to be the team's leader for the next decade."

Xavi, 35, is set to make a record 151st Champions League appearance -- and his last for Barca -- in Saturday's final against Juventus in Berlin, as he aims to finish his 17th campaign in the first team by winning a 24th club competition.

Busquets, 26, is already up to 15 winners' medals as a Blaugrana player following this season's La Liga and Copa del Rey domestic double, and has firmly established himself as a key figure since breaking into the team during the 2008-09 campaign.

Other widely-tipped successors for Xavi's role as the team's captain have included Cesc Fabregas, now at Chelsea, and Thiago Alcantara, now at Bayern Munich, but the player himself says that Busquets is his "natural replacement" both on and off the pitch at the Camp Nou.

"I've got a soft spot for Busquets in every respect," Xavi, who is joining Qatari club Al Sadd this summer, told UEFA's official website. "He's a close friend and I think he's the player with the best understanding of football, both in attack and in defence, in the world. His game intelligence on the pitch is a wonder.

"And off it, I don't know anyone else whom I have the same affinity with. I think he's my natural replacement in the dressing room and on the pitch. He's destined to be the leader for Barcelona for the next decade, without a shadow of a doubt."

In an interview during which he hailed many of his friends and teammates at Barca, Xavi hailed long-time club and country companion Andres Iniesta as the "most talented" Spanish player in history.

"[Iniesta] is fantastic," Xavi said. "I think he's the most talented Spanish player of all time. He's an amazing player, a wonderful person with a huge heart. He's excellent at everything: the way he treats people, an example in the dressing room and on the pitch. He's a leader, he always wants the ball, he never hides.

"That isn't easy to find. Aside from his talent, he makes a difference in all areas of the pitch. He's extraordinary. It's an absolute pleasure to have spent so many years playing alongside him."

Lionel Messi, meanwhile, was described by Xavi as simply "the best at everything."

"He's the smallest, but he's the best at everything, even in the air," Xavi said. "Messi is a phenomenon. I'm not about to say anything new.

"What Leo has been doing is amazing. He's even the best at defending. When he puts pressure on the full-backs, he wins the ball back. He's the best at everything, no matter what he does."

Brazil star Neymar is set to take Messi's position as the world's best player in the future, Xavi said.

"Neymar is an incredible person, incredible. When you consider his profile in Brazil and the world-class player he is, he's a very humble person, a really good influence in the dressing room," he said.

"And a player so gifted that when Leo Messi retires, he'll be the best player in the world without a doubt. He makes the difference at the age of 21, 22, and to do that at Barcelona is very difficult. Neymar is going to have a golden age, make no mistake."

The third member of Barca's all-South American attack, Luis Suarez, has offered the team something different this season, according to Xavi."

"He's an amazing player -- the way he plays with his back to goal, his understanding of the game, the outlet he offers when the opposition press high up the pitch and we launch the ball to him in any old way and he brings it down," he said.

"He wins fouls, he's a goal scorer, he's got a similar killer instinct to Samuel Eto'o. He's an extraordinary player and, on top of that, an incredible person in the dressing room -- a humble, hard-working and down-to-earth person."

Xavi went on to say that Barca centre-back Gerard Pique has returned to form as the world's best centre-back.

"Pique is a natural-born leader, both on and off the pitch," he said. "Now he's become the best centre-back in the world again, because he set out to do that. He said as much in preseason and has delivered.

"He's 28 and has four or five incredible years at Barca ahead of him, and he's a key figure in the dressing room and on the field."

Xavi added that Javier Mascherano has shown how players who have not graduated from the club's academy can still fit perfectly into Barca's unique style of play.

"It's amazing how [Mascherano] has adapted to the style of play at Barcelona," he said. "He's intelligent, a leader, a total leader on and off the pitch. Even though he's not a graduate of the academy, it seems as if he was.

"He's somebody whose dedication and character are extraordinary. He's a role model for future generations at Barca, so that people will be able to say, 'a player who came from another football culture was able to adapt seamlessly to Barcelona's way.' He's set a fantastic example."

Talking about goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Xavi said he has shown in his first season at the Camp Nou that he will be Barca's No. 1 for a long time.

"[Ter Stegen] is amazing, a surprise -- I didn't know him, I'd never seen him play," he said. "I think he was a good signing by [former director of football Andoni] Zubizarreta, an incredible signing even.

"Because he could be Barca's goalie for the next 10, 12 or 15 years, for as long as he wants -- I've never seen a keeper play so well with both feet. I think he's got what it takes to become the best keeper in the world."

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