Xavi ideal person to help Barcelona find success again, says Eto'o

Samuel Eto'o believes that his former teammate Xavi Hernandez is the best man to look at for a revival of fortunes at Camp Nou.

FILE PHOTO: Samuel Eto'o (pic) believes that his former teammate Xavi Hernandez is the best man to look at for a revival of fortunes at Camp Nou.

Since he was unveiled as Barcelona boss on November 8, Xavi Hernandez hasn't lost a game at his boyhood club, where he had won eight La Liga and four Champions League titles as a player.

And if his former teammate Samuel Eto'o is to be believed, he is the best man to look at for a revival of fortunes at Camp Nou.

"I wish him all the luck in the world. Barça is going through a particularly difficult situation right now, but I think he is the ideal person to lift them out of this situation; he is a machine. It also comes down to luck and I hope that luck will be with him. Barça will find success again," Eto'o says.

Benzema - Madrid's new leader

Barcelona, ninth on the Spanish league standings when Xavi joined, has managed to climb up to seventh after three games. Real Madrid, with five wins in its last five games, sits comfortably atop the points table and Eto'o thinks it has Benzema to thank for.

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"Benzema, today in Madrid, is God. He is their leader and above everyone else right now. People say Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo – but Cristiano Ronaldo is gone, and Benzema is here. Madrid keep winning because Benzema is here, we have to give him his place."

Benzema finished fourth on the Ballon d'Or leaderboard with 239 points but Eto'o said nobody would be too concerned about that.

"Well, these things happen in life. But that doesn't take away the quality of this boy, and we have to respect what he brings to football. Especially at Real Madrid in recent years where many players have left and he has continued with the same performance, and even improved on it," he said.

(The writer is in Qatar at the invitation of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy)