'Guardiola perfected Barcelona'- Xavi

Ahead of a potential 150th Champions League appearance, the midfielder hailed his former coach for "revolutionising" football.

Pep Guardiola “perfected” Barcelona’s style, according to Xavi, who has admitted he still finds it "strange" seeing the club's former coach in another dug-out.

Guardiola, who now leads Bayern Munich, spent four years in charge at Camp Nou and oversaw a golden era for the club, during which he won two European Cups and three La Liga titles in a 14-trophy haul.

Xavi was a vital component of his teams and says the coach was responsible for fine tuning their ‘tiki-taka’ style - which was based on short passing and dominance of possession
The 35-year-old will face his former boss again on Tuesday in the second leg of his side's Champions League semi-final and took the opportunity to pay tribute to the 44-year-old.

“Pep is fantastic and perfected the game of Barcelona .He revolutionised football and now we have him as a rival. It is a strange feeling to see him on another bench,” the veteran told Adidas Gamedayplus.

“We know him and he knows us. We know how he works. He will want to take possession as he knows how much we suffer without the ball, and it will be a very attractive game.”

On a personal level, the former Spain man could make his 150th Champions League appearance against Bayern and revealed his pride at reaching the landmark.

"I've been very lucky to be in Barcelona and to play so many games and achieve great things in the Champions League. It’s incredible for me to overtake so many legends and become the player with the most appearances in the competition.”