Two of Spanish football’s most decorated veteran stars – Iker Casillas and Xavi – endured decidedly differing fortunes this weekend as they face up to uncertain futures with Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Madrid captain Casillas was relegated to the status of ‘cup goalkeeper’ by boss Carlo Ancelotti in an unusual goalkeeper rotation policy last season, with Diego Lopez preferred for La Liga action.
And after Casillas suffered a poor World Cup with Spain, the picture is set to become further muddied by the imminent arrival of Costa Rica star Keylor Navas from Levante, who Madrid last night confirmed will be unveiled at the Bernabeu tomorrow at 15:00 (UAE time).
Amid uncertainty over his place, Casillas did little to help his cause with a shaky performance in the 3-1 friendly defeat against Manchester United in Michigan, coming far too slowly off his line to allow Chicharito Hernandez to score the final goal of the game.
Ancelotti did nothing to express any confidence in Casillas, admitting the identity of his first choice goalkeeper was far from certain as he said: “Casillas will play in the UEFA Super Cup [against Sevilla next Tuesday], and after that we’ll see. I’m calm about the goalkeeper situation.”
– Fujairah pave the way to bring Barcelona legend Xavi to the UAE
Casillas’ good friend from Barcelona, Xavi, enjoyed a far better day by scoring his team’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Nice in the south of France.
Barca were trailing 1-0 when Xavi appeared as a half-time substitute, but his emergence sparked a significant improvement and eventually led to the leveller, stroked home by the 34-year-old from the penalty spot.
Enrique, a former team-mate of Xavi’s at the Nou Camp, said: “Xavi is in his best form physically as well as in terms of motivation. He looks as good as ever.”
The future of the Catalan pass master has been unclear throughout the summer, with early expectations that he would leave to enjoy a career swansong in the United States, the UAE or Qatar recently overtaken by claims that he has decided to stay with Barca for another season.
Even though he returned to training 11 days ago and is usually very forthcoming with the media, Xavi has still not publicly spoken on where he will be playing his football this season, with the club offering the questionable reasoning that he has chosen to wait until the squad’s return to Barcelona following last week’s training camp in England before addressing the media.
With Barca now back on home turf, by that reckoning Xavi has no more reason to delay breaking his silence beyond this week.
