Barcelona ace Xavi admits he grew up idolising Bernd Schuster.

The German played for Barca and Real Madrid and also coached Real later in his career.

"As a youngster, the player I looked up to was Bernd Schuster. When I got put in central midfield, I used to watch him play and I'd be transfixed," Xavi told El Periódico.

"Later I began to model myself on Pep: the way he'd play one-touch passes, how he'd accelerate, the way he'd slow things down, how he shaped himself to receive the ball, looking around in every direction first."