Xavi: 'De Ligt and De Jong have the Barcelona DNA'
"De Ligt and De Jong? I like them very much, they are good for Barca. They do not lose the ball, they already have the Barcelona DNA from Ajax, which was always a good school for us. And they are young," he said.
"Messi? What else can I say? He is stratospheric. I would give him the Ballon d'Or every year. Barcelona's style? We always wanted the ball and pressed high. The essence was never lost, not even with Tata Martino, with whom we achieved nothing. Then there are nuances like Luis Enrique. Valverde is more practical. They are nuances within the essence.
"The Messi era is not over, and if you see it as a whole, it is spectacular. Without him, we had a Champions League title and with him, we already have five. The Messi era has not been bad, but Real Madrid has continued with its history. Real Madrid, before Cristiano, already had nine Champions League titles. But Messi has changed the history of Barca. The two have monopolized football in the last 15 years," Xavi concluded.