Barcelona legend Xavi has revealed that the 1998/99 Manchester United side were the best English team he ever faced, while also saying that Paul Scholes was his toughest ever opponent.
The United team that won the Champions League that season got through the group-stages as one of the best two runners up in the tournament, qualifying from a group that included fellow finalists Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
The Red Devils drew 3-3 with the Catalans in both their contests and Xavi, who had just broken into the first team at the Nou Camp, has said that the “special” Manchester United team he faced that year deserved to win the trophy.
When asked by Shortlist for his toughest English opponent, the Spaniard said: “The two games in the group stages of the Champions League in 1998 against Manchester United I will always remember.
“I was only a very young player, and their midfield was David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. It was a special team, and no surprise they lifted the trophy that season.”
The 36-year-old, who now plays for Qatari club Al Sadd SC, also named Scholes as the British player he’d love to play alongside the most, but knows it would have never have happened due to their loyalty to their own clubs.
“Ah that’s not even a question – Paul Scholes, but I was never leaving Barcelona and he was never leaving Manchester United, so it wasn’t meant to be,” he said.
“Paul Scholes, both for skill and as a natural competitor, but both [Steven] Gerrard and [Frank] Lampard were midfield players that would have gotten in to any side in Europe at their peak.”
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