Beckham pays Instagram tribute to Xavi, Pirlo

Chalk this up to another example of real recognizing real.

Over two decades of professional competition at the game's highest levels, David Beckham shared the pitch with a who's who of legendary footballers.

With two of those legends set to face off in the Champions League final on Saturday – in each player's last appearance with their respective club – Beckham posted Instagram tributes to Barcelona's Xavi and Juventus's Andrea Pirlo.

Beckham, of course, knows Xavi well from their many El Clasico battles when the Englishman plied his trade at Real Madrid, while he spent parts of two seasons (2008-09 and 2009-10) as Pirlo's teammate on loan to AC Milan.

Those two seasons in northern Italy were apparently worth six words on Instagram. Xavi's tribute, for what it's worth, came in at 51 words.

We know where Beckham's loyalties lie.

Xavi is off to Qatari club Al Sadd after this season, while Pirlo will follow up his illustrious Serie A career with a move to Major League Soccer's New York City FC.