Clasico run excites Xavi

Xavi: Looking forward to testing himself against Real

Barcelona midfielder Xavi is looking forward to regular derby dates with Real Madrid over the coming weeks.

The fierce rivals are set go head-to-head four times over the course of the next month.

A Primera Liga fixture gets the string of Clasicos up and running on Saturday, with the Spanish Cup final to follow on Wednesday.

Barca and Real will also met in a two-legged UEFA Champions League semi-final on 27th April and 3rd May.

It is unusual for these old adversaries to meet so often, but Xavi believes that will only help to add to the sense of occasion.

"The fans wait every year with great expectation for the two Clasicos, at home and away," he told El Mundo.

"In the coming days, we will have not two but four Clasicos. It's fantastic."

Motivation

Of the four, Xavi admits the cup final concerns him the most, adding: "It is a single match and any temporary collapse, even if only for five minutes, any expulsion, right or wrong, any isolated incident, it can kill the game and there's no room to react."

Barca won the first derby of the season in comprehensive style, with a 5-0 rout at Camp Nou underlining their standing as the side to beat in Spain.

It is, however, notoriously difficult to predict what will happen in the Clasicos and Xavi admits that anything can and probably will happen over the next few weeks.

He said: "We play better against the big teams. With Real Madrid, there's the extra motivation because it's our oldest rival and also the most difficult rival, now and forever.

"I like these kind of challenges.

"Some may think that the 5-0 league match at the Nou Camp was a shock result, but if an hour later we had returned to play another game with the same players and the referee, the result could have been completely different

"You never know in a Barcelona-Real Madrid match. You never know."