Barcelona midfielder Xavi has taken a swipe at Jose Mourinho and Inter, stating their Champions League triumph in 2010 has been forgotten due to their style of play.
The Nerazzurri defeated the Blaugrana in the semi-finals before claiming the title in Madrid against Bayern Munich, but the 33-year-old believes their triumph has left no legacy in the footballing world.
“Mourinho likes to talk about his results and calls himself the Special One,” he told Panenka.
“He says he has won in several countries but I don’t like the way he makes his teams play.
“For example, the Inter team that were European champions, who remembers them? They are a team that has left no legacy.
“The same thing applies to Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea.”
Inter’s 2010 triumph was their first victory in the competition since 1965 as they completed a historic Treble under Mourinho’s leadership.
Follow Adriano Boin on Twitter: @Boin44
I surprisingly agree with Xavi in regards to Di Matteo. The way that Chelse won that Champions League was unbelievable luck, but his criticism of Mourinho is laughable. Both Porto and Inter completely dominated their Champions League finals. Bayern Munich was barely able to cross midfield against Inter Milan, and Bayern had a MUCH better squad than Inter. It was magnificent. Mourinho has left too many legacies to count. He restored faith in Portuguese managers, who now work all over Europe, and in the Portuguese league that was once dominated by foreign managers, every club is now managed by a Portuguese manager. So many of his Porto players went on to become stars. Winning the EPL with Chelsea who had not won it in 50 years and then winning it again was an insane feat considering that he was a newcomer. That was a squad that people will remember, Cech, Carvalho, Lampard, Makelele, Essien, Drogba; it’s ironic that Chelsea never won the Champions League when they were in their prime. His Real Madrid legacy will be taking down the dominance of your club Xavi. Before Mourinho came to Real Madrid, Barcelona was winning all the titles, and Real Madrid was exiting the Champions League at the Round of 16 regularly. He took them to 3 consecutive semi-finals, changing Real Madrid from expensive under-achievers, to favourites, won the league breaking records that Barcelona never broke, and won the Copa Del Rey, Real Madrid’s first since 1993. He completely turned that club around, and Guardiola had to quit because he couldn’t handle the pressure. If that’s not a legacy, then I don’t know what is.
So Xavi,,who is the winner at the time?
do you remember about 1st leg in Meazza?
I hope you are still remember,when Barcelona lose by 1-3. Inter is 1st club which winning by 3 goal at thats time.
Maybe u never want to remember,,but history cant be changes..
And chelsea too..
Happy day Xavi,,
Xavi seems to remember Inter very well……oohh the pain he must feel
am sick n tired of barcas players takin incessant swipes at real madrid n mourinho.they should learn how to grow up.they always blame others for their misfortunes.i think its a deliberate attempt to cast madrid in a bad light.afterall they are not the most successful team in history.its high time someone put a stop to that.
LOL it’s that time of the year again when Xavi trots out his lame, “Nobody remembers Inter.” Apparently you do, Xavi! and I bet Biscuits and Pep remember it too. As long as the three of you keep the memory alive, that will be enough for me! Somebody turn on the sprinklers, Xavi’s behind is on fire again.