Joaquim Hernández – the father of Xavi Hernández – spoke of the tense moments that the Spanish international players had to go through, due to the battles between Real Madrid and Barcelona two years ago, coming soon after Spain’s World Cup triumph and coinciding with José Mourinho’s first season at Real.

“This issue caused Iker a lot of problems with Mourinho. These problems came into the public eye and are well known, due to the fact that Xavi and Iker didn’t want to abandon their friendship”, said the father of the Barcelona and Spanish international midfielder.

“If it hadn’t been for Iker Casillas, Xavi and (Vicente) Del Bosque, the national team wouldn’t have come so far. There were some very difficult moments as a result of the Clásicos (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona games).

Players who had been teammates and friends almost lost that friendship. There were no arguments. We saw what happened with Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos and how they acted with their teammates in the national squad. Some players’ behaviour was not appropriate. It was a good thing Iker and Xavi stepped in”, he added.