Unlike Xavi, most of Pirlo’s passes are always direct and forward. Since, the transition from defence to offence is supposed to be lightening quick, building play from the back and linking up ...

Xavi broke down in tears at a farewell event this week as he prepares to see out the twilight of his career in Qatar, and Pirlo is also weighing up a proposition from the Qatar Stars League as ...

Pirlo has been to more than one club what Xavi has been to Barcelona. Like Xavi, he has also had a significant impact at the international level, playing a key role in Italy's 2006 World Cup win ...

He wanted Pirlo to alternate with Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in midfield, admitting his team was already very strong but that Pirlo "would be the icing on the cake".

Milan: When Andrea Pirlo and Xavi Hernandez face each other for the last time at the Champions League final on Saturday, there will be more than a Champions League title at stake.

And that’s why, Pirlo and Xavi, need not be compared. Xavi may not have been Spain’s stand-out performer at the championships, but then again, he doesn’t need to.

Ronald Koeman would appear to be on borrowed time at Barcelona with a number of names such as Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Roberto Martinez and Marcelo Gallardo now in the frame to take his place in the Camp N ...

Aged 35 and 36 respectively this will be both's swan song at the top of world football. The last time they met was the Euro 2012 final where Xavi's Spain ran out comfortable 4-0 winners against ...

Xavi is no slouch in this department but no one on earth is as good as Andrea Pirlo at scoring on free kicks. There's really not a lot to say about Pirlo's supreme skill over a dead ball.

When you have the likes of Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Xavi, Alonso and Iniesta operating in one space, sparks of inspiration are certain to fly in the final of Euro 2012.

Pirlo arrived in Turin from AC Milan in 2011 in what Mark Ogden of the Daily Telegraph calls "arguably the greatest free transfer of all time". During his stay he has won four consecutive Serie A ...