Former team-mates Xavi and Rakitic share wholesome moment in Barcelona's clash

Barcelona boss Xavi shared a touching moment with former midfield partner Ivan Rakitic as their sides clashed on Tuesday evening.

It wasn't the best night for Xavi's side as Sevilla held them to a 1-1 draw despite Jules Kounde being sent off after 64 minutes.

Xavi played alongside Rakitic during his final season as a player at Barcelona in a special year where they won a treble consisting of the LaLiga, Champions League and Copa Del Ray.

Rakitic, who left Barcelona for Sevilla in 2020, was running down the sideline when he was fouled by Abde Ezzalzouli.

Xavi walked over to his former team-mate and offered out his hand, helping the 33-year-old Croatian back to his feet.

They then shared a warm embrace with Xavi giving Rakitic a tap on the back of the head.

Despite this, Rakitic helped Sevilla earn a point against his former side and Xavi.

Papu Gomez opened the scoring for the side which are second in LaLiga after 32 minutes.

Ronald Araujo equalised shortly before half-time, and Sevilla were able to hold on after Kounde was sent his marching orders.

Rakitic showed his admiration for both Xavi and Andres Iniesta in an interview with Sportsmail earlier this year.

'The hunger they had was incredible. I was lucky enough to spend a year working with Xavi, many years with Andres Iniesta and I even built a relationship outside of football with them.'

The wholesome moment between Xavi and Rakitic was picked up by Barcelona fans on social media.

Several accounts posted heart emojis to the clip while another user said they had 'tears' in their eyes.

Labib Choudhury posted: 'Once upon a time they played together for Barcelona.

'Now Xavi is the manager of Barcelona and Rakitic is a player of the opposing team Sevilla.

'But the relationship is still as before. Best moment of the last night.'

Following the draw, Barcelona are still ten points behind Sevilla in 7th place.