Xavi accepts he "played an important part" in Gerard Pique deciding to retire after downscaling the defender's first-team role at Barcelona this season.
The head coach revealed he went through "some of the most difficult moments" of his career when he made the decisions during the off-season that have spurred his former team-mate to quit.
Pique, a Barcelona great who won eight LaLiga titles and the Champions League three times with the club, is set to play his last Camp Nou match on Saturday when Almeria are the visitors.
The 35-year-old will then be available for the match at Osasuna on Tuesday, according to Xavi, but will put a full stop to his playing career after that.
Xavi said coaching friends can make his role "unpleasant" when big decisions have to be made, and he called on Barcelona supporters to give Pique a rousing send-off.
It should not be taken as a given that Pique would start the Almeria game, Xavi said, but he seems certain to appear at some stage.
"He deserves all the love of the Barca fans," Xavi told a press conference on Friday. "I've known him as a team-mate and as a coach, and what he's decided, to put a full stop to his career, I understand completely due to the circumstances.
"He feels less responsible, less useful. I was in that position, too, and the normal thing is you take a step aside.
"He's got a contract and could easily continue with the club, but he's shown great professionalism by stepping aside, and I wish him all the best. The Barca fans should value him as he is, as a legend of the club.
"We had a conversation ahead of the season. I communicated my intentions. It was a private conversation. It was some of the most difficult moments of my career, speaking with Gerard this summer.
"As a friend of him, I love him a lot and hold him in high esteem, but it's something that happens to all of us. You arrive at a moment where you're not so important or useful for the team.
"You feel badly. I had to go through the circumstances, and it's difficult to manage this.
"I played an important part. I decided the best for the team, the institution. I have to make these decisions. It's a very difficult role where you don't receive a lot of gratitude, but I have to do the best for the team and for the club.
"I was honest with him in every moment over the summer, and the circumstances have helped him decide he'll put an end to his career."
Xavi hinted that Pique was far from happy about being pushed to the fringes of the first team.
"I tried to be honest. The player always feels when you're not wanted very much and don't play very much, the one to blame is the coach," Xavi said.
"You have to live with that, that's my work. It's an unpleasant job sometimes, having to take decisions like this with former team-mates like Pique and Dani Alves, and these are situations that aren't easy to manage."
Only four players have featured in more games for Barca than Pique, who has 614 appearances. Those ahead of him are Lionel Messi (778), Xavi (767), Sergio Busquets (694) and Andres Iniesta (674) – all of whom formed part of a great Barcelona team in the late 2000s and into the 2010s.
"He's won everything here," Xavi said. "He's been one of the best centre-backs in history, and whatever decision he makes is to be respected 100 per cent. He's got every right to choose how and when."
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
Slot's Liverpool success will be measured by trophies, says McAllister
Gary McAllister says Arne Slot must be prepared to aim high by targeting trophies if he is to be successful with Liverpool.
The Dutchman is set to begin his first season in charge of the Reds after being appointed as Jurgen Klopp's successor in May.
Liverpool enjoyed a trophy-laden spell under the German, winning their first-ever Premier League title, as well as a Champions League, a Club World Cup, a Super Cup, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups.
However, Slot was no stranger to success while at Feyenoord, leading the team to the Eredivisie title in 2022-23 before lifting the KNVB Cup in April during his final season with the club.
McAllister, who won five trophies in the two years he spent at Liverpool, says Slot's success will be determined by the silverware he collects.
"Liverpool is a club that's synonymous with winning, and when you don't win you fail," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"When there's a new management team, you're given a little bit more time, but the facts are Liverpool's target, I felt, and as a player that played against them for most of his career, the targets that Liverpool set, you go into every tournament looking to win it.
"You try to win every game and that's the expectation of the club and that's what makes it a very special club."
Klopp spent nine years at Liverpool, breaking club records as his team pushed for trophies on a regular basis.
The Reds enjoyed a club-record 68-match unbeaten run at Anfield over nearly four years in the Premier League between April 2017 and January 2021.
Klopp also oversaw three of the four most prolific seasons in Liverpool's history, including the club-record total of 147 goals scored in 2021-22.
Slot has admitted he has "big shoes to fill", but McAllister believes the 45-year-old will be able to live up to the high expectations left behind by Klopp.
"Arne arriving at the club, following Klopp, realising that it's such a difficult job anyway, but to follow somebody who's done particularly well at the club over an eight, nine-year period is going to be tough, and I don't think the new manager is under any illusions," he added.
"What I would say is he's a man that seems to be a very strong character, good personality, and he's just got to come in and be his own man and trust what he does.
"He's done very well in his previous managerial career and coming to Liverpool I feel is a natural progression in the levels of the game that he's worked at.
"So, everybody at the club will be deeply backing him and be right behind him, he'll have amazing support."
Liverpool's first pre-season game under Slot ended in a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End last week before the players flew out to the United States for a three-game tour.
They are also only one of two Premier League clubs yet to conduct any business in the transfer window so far, but McAllister urged fans to be patient with Slot while he gets settled in his new role.
"Whenever there's a change at a club, I think the fans have got to realise that it does take time for a new manager, a new coaching group to come in and get their ideas over to the players," he said.
"There's got to be a modicum of patience, but at Liverpool, expectation levels are very, very high and sometimes, in professional soccer, in elite soccer, patience is something that most managers don't get.
"As much as the fans have got to be aware that everything is new and there are new ideas, Arne and the players will want to get off to a quick start.
"I feel that this pre-season tour is going to help them start the season against Ipswich Town very strongly. I feel the games that they've got here in the US, here in Pittsburgh against Betis, and then we go to play Arsenal and Manchester United, the build-up is pretty good."
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