The Barcelona midfielder, Xavi, has said that Jose Mourinho didn’t treat Iker Casillas well towards the end of the last season.

Casillas had fractured his hand while playing in the Copa Del Rey match against Barcelona in January this year. He recovered from that blow in a couple of months and was available for selection from April, but, surprisingly, Mourinho didn’t send him on the field in any of the remaining matches of the season.

For Real Madrid’s last game of the season against Osasuna, Mourinho didn’t even include Casillas in the match day squad despite the fact that the second choice goalkeeper Diego Lopez was ill and was unavailable for selection. He went with the fourth choice goalkeeper Jesus Collado in that match.

At the end of the season, Mourinho said publicly that he didn’t regret his decision of dropping Casillas in the last few matches. According to Mourinho, he should have done that much earlier.
Xavi didn’t like these statements of Mourinho at all. Talking to the reporter of a Spanish newspaper, Xavi said, “I don’t have any problem with the fact that he dropped Iker. It’s his statements that have upset me. How can he say in the media that he should have replaced Iker much earlier? He has not shown respect to a player who has been sensational for both Real Madrid and Spain over the years.”

“Iker is one of my closest friends. I talk to him frequently and I know that these statements of Mourinho have hurt him a lot.”

Casillas has been playing for Real Madrid since the last 15 years. He had made his debut for the first team of Madrid when he was just 18 years of age. He has so far featured for Los Blancos in more than 600 games.