Road to 25 trophies began! On this day in 1998, Xavi made his Barca debut

March 24 marks 22 years since the debut of a Barcelona legend. Midfielder Xavi Hernandez, considered to be one of the best to have ever played the game, made his first appearance in a Barca shirt back in 1998, in the semifinal of the Copa Catalunya. Xavi played 90 minutes and showed signs of what was to come.

Barcelona would win the match 2-1, with a brace from Jofre. Future Barca coach Tito Villanova found the net for opponents UE Lleida.

Given his debut by Louis Van Gaal aged just 18 years and 2 months, Xavi would have an amazing career at Barca over the course of 17 seasons. His first official appearance was on August 18, 1998, in the Spanish Supercopa, scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Mallorca.

Xavi won 25 trophies with Barcelona in total during his glittering career.

Xavi's stats & major honors in his career:

943 apps

113 goals

212 assists

131 caps

12 goals for Spain

24 assists for Spain

1x World Cup

2x European Championships

8x La Liga

4x UCL

3x Copa Del Rey

6x Spanish Supercopa

2x European Super Cup 

2x Club World Cup