Barcelona have "maximum" motivation for the Clasico, according to Xavi, who has urged the Blaugrana to "be brave and show personality" when they face Real Madrid on Sunday.
The two LaLiga heavyweights have set the early pace this season, with Barca edging their great rivals thanks to a superior goal difference after both earned 22 points from eight matches.
Those unbeaten records will be on the line when they go head-to-head at Santiago Bernabeu, where Xavi masterminded a stunning 4-0 victory in his first LaLiga Clasico as a coach back in March.
Tata Martino, in 2014, was the last Barca coach to win his first two Clasicos in LaLiga.
Former midfielder Xavi appeared in 42 Clasicos as a player – a tally only bettered by Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos (both 45) – and enjoyed 17 victories with Barca while racking up five goals and eight assists.
Knowing exactly what is required in this fixture, he issued a rallying cry in his news conference on Saturday.
"I would like to remain a footballer to play these types of matches. It's spectacular to play such a game," Xavi said.
"This is where you have to stand up and be counted; as a coach, too. Everyone watches the Clasico and everyone's up for it. The motivation is maximum, it is an opportunity to come out more leaders of the competition.
"We need to play as a unit; we need to be compact, we need to be brave and show personality. The proof of [what you can achieve] is very clear; [look at] last year's game.
"The impact on morale if we come out of a game like this with a good result would be significant. But it's still early. We're still building; we need to keep going."
Xavi revealed left-back Marcos Alonso could partner Eric Garcia in the heart of defence as Barca look to keep Madrid's attacking options at bay, including seven-goal top scorer Vinicius Junior.
But when asked about combating Vinicius' threat, the Blaugrana coach insisted his side were not only concerned about the in-form Brazil international.
"It's not just Vinícius that we have to stop; it's also [Karim] Benzema, Rodrygo, [Federico] Valverde," Xavi added. "They're a competitive team who get the best out of their players.
"It's a huge game. It's not about how we stop Vinícius; it's about how we stop Madrid."
Curtin sacked by Philadelphia Union, Arena new San Jose head coach
The Philadelphia Union have parted ways with head coach Jim Curtin, the club announced on Thursday.
Curtin was the second-longest serving coach in the MLS, only behind Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes, but his 10-year stint at Subaru Park has finally come to an end.
During the 45-year-old's tenure, the Union won the 2020 Supporters' Shield and made the 2022 MLS Cup final.
But Philadelphia struggled this season, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference standings and therefore missing the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Curtin oversaw 394 matches in all competitions, winning 170 (D90 L134), ending with a win percentage of 41.9%.
"We want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Jim for his passion and dedication to this club over the last 10 seasons," sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement.
"He greatly contributed to the success the club has achieved in recent years and for that, we are extremely grateful.
"We thank Jim for the significant impact he made both on the field and in the community. Following the 2024 season, we recognise the need for change.
"We'll continue to evaluate our sporting strategy and make the necessary changes this offseason to best set the team up for success."
In the Western Conference, the San Jose Earthquakes named Bruce Arena as their new head coach and sporting director after a poor 2024 season.
They conceded an MLS-record 78 goals and finished bottom of the overall league standings, parting ways with Luchi Gonzalez before being led by interim coach Ian Russell.
Arena takes charge of his fifth club in the MLS and his first since resigning from his position with the New England Revolution in 2023.
The 73-year-old is the most accomplished coach in MLS history, leading the league in regular-season wins (262) and Audi MLS Cup Playoffs victories (35).
Additionally, Arena led the United States at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and won three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles.
"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to come to San Jose," said Arena.
"I coached my first ever professional game at Spartan Stadium in 1996 – the first game in MLS history – and my first international game with the U.S. in 1998 was in San Jose.
"The Earthquakes and Northern California have a proud soccer tradition.
"There’s a lot of potential with the club, and I am looking forward to working with everyone here to unlock that potential and get back to winning ways."
England handed World Cup final reunion with Spain in Women's Nations League
England will face a re-run of the Women's 2023 World Cup final after being drawn in the same group as Spain in the 2025 Women's Nations League.
Sarina Wiegman's side will face the world and Nations League champions for the first time since the August 2023 World Cup final, where they lost 1-0 in Australia.
The Lionesses are joined in Group A3 by Belgium, who stunned England in the previous edition of the tournament with a 3-2 win in Leuven last October, and Portugal.
During the October international break, England were beaten 4-3 by Germany, but responded with a 2-1 triumph over South Africa.
They face Emma Hayes' United States at Wembley in an international friendly at the end of this month before taking on Switzerland in December before the tournament starts.
“It’s an exciting draw. We have Spain – a top, world-class team – which I think is exciting because it’s another opportunity to play at that level," Wiegman said.
“It’s really good that we play Belgium because in the last Nations League we lost when we played them away, and we really underperformed.
"We can prove to ourselves now that we can do much better than that in the two games. I’m happy with that one, they’re tough.
“Portugal are a very talented team. We played them before we went to the World Cup, and we drew with them.
"We had a lot of the ball, but we couldn’t score, and they were very dangerous on the counter-attack. They have a lot of technical players.
“There are different opponents, and I’m really looking forward to it because we’ll be challenged in different areas of the game. And of course we’ll give them challenges too.”
Germany give surprise maiden call up to Ortega
Julian Nagelsmann has handed a maiden Germany call-up to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega in his squad for the upcoming Nations League games.
The 32-year-old has only made four appearances for Manchester City this season, two in the Champions League and two in the EFL Cup, and was a surprise inclusion in the squad.
Ortega, who joined City in 2022, is the second-choice goalkeeper behind Ederson but received plaudits after filling in at the end of last season when the Brazilian suffered an eye injury.
There is also a return for Borussia Dortmund's Felix Nmecha, who is called up for the first time since September 2023. He has scored two goals and registered two assists in 14 appearances in all competitions this season.
Kai Havertz is also in the squad, having pulled out of their games in the October international break due to a knee injury.
Germany have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations League, having collected 10 points from their opening four games.
Nagelsmann is not ready to ease up on the pressure when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary, with the first of those matches on November 16.
"After making sure of a spot in the quarter-finals, we now want to seal top spot in the group," said Nagelsmann.
"Reaching the Nations League final four next year is an important milestone on our way to the 2026 World Cup."
Germany squad in full:
Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Stefan Ortega (Manchester City), Robin Gosens (Fiorentina), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Monchengladbach), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart).
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