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#2 Xavi Hernandez
A midfield maestro, Xavi was a player who came through the ranks at La Masia - Barcelona's football academy. A calm figure on the ball, he had a knack of always picking the right passes at the right time.
He formed a devastating partnership with Iniesta and together, they formed one of the most feared midfield duos at the time. He won a long list of trophies at Barcelona which includes 4 Champions Leagues, 2 European supercups, 8 La Liga titles, 3 Copa del Reys and 6 Spanish supercups.
He was also a part of the Spanish team that won EURO 2008, the FIFA World cup in 2010 and also won the Euro 2012 competition. He was on the shortlist for the Ballon d'or thrice, but ended up losing to Messi on all three occasions.
He was never a prolific goal scorer but he was known for his passes that used to carve the opposition defense open and create acres of space for the strikers to score. Xavi is another player who deserved to win the Ballon d'Or, but was eclipsed by a mercurial Messi the 3 years he was nominated.
