Andres Iniesta isn't washed up yet, and El Clasico proved it

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Andres Iniesta is an incomplete sentence. His name should read as "... and Andres Iniesta" as it has for the past decade or so. It's one half of a whole, a sentence of two subjects with the action subjugated like a high ball between the two. Xavi and Iniesta, it's the only way that it seems right.

They are the Castor and Pollux of Barcelona: the same soul in two bodies. And while ultimately they will both be remembered as Camp Nou immortals, during the last few years, they seemed unable to exist on the same plane. But the pain of separation allows us the opportunity to examine each player individually, and in this case, to remember just how wonderful and deadly Iniesta can be.

He was the man of the match against Real Madrid in the same way that the writers are the true stars of an acclaimed television show. By creating the perfect situations and crafting a stable base, they can allow the talents of the more visible cast to shine. Neymar is a star. Luis Suarez is a star and Lionel Messi, whether on the pitch, bench or returning from injury, is larger than life. Iniesta is not quite so large, and given the blinding radiance around him, it's easy to miss the brilliant fire of the small man in the center.

But this small, unassuming man has a taste for the big occasion. That's when the little things matter the most, after all. Indeed, it was before the footballing lesson that Barcelona taught Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final that Sir Alex Ferguson stated that while Messi is outworldly, Iniesta was Barcelona's danger man.

The thin-haired midfielder broke the hearts of Chelsea fans with a vicious volley that betrayed his personality not too long before. He would win the World Cup for Spain. He would stand as the mastermind of the butchering of Italy in the Euros 2012 final. Even last year against Juventus in the Champions League final, in his advancing years, he supplied the dagger for Ivan Rakitic's first strike before weaving his simple magic behind football's most fearsome trident.

Most of the things that Iniesta does are simple. Or at least they look simple, because the simple things are often the most difficult. He scans his shoulders before receiving passes and decides what to do with the ball before he gets it. He touches the ball with intention and comfort. He one-touches, two-touches and holds the ball all when necessary and doesn't do much more than needed at any moment.

He steps into dangerous spaces between the midfielders and defenders. He drags his defenders out of space when he sees an attack building, as he did with Luka Modric during Suarez's first goal and Sergi Roberto's run. His control is immaculate and his composure is at spiritual-teacher-under-Bodhi-tree levels.

But Iniesta is much more than just a possession player. He has the ability to receive the ball from Neymar, take a touch inside the onrushing James Rodriguez to beat him, feint to the inside to deceive the incoming Modric before going towards the center circle and playing a high, defense-splitting 40-yard ball to Sergi Roberto, who has made a run behind a ball-watching Marcelo.

It's also impossible to dispossess him. Enclosed in space, under pressure, Iniesta seems to grow two more legs that help him to keep the ball as defenders kick at air and heel in frustration. The best little trick that he does is when a defender is playing right on his back and Iniesta running towards his own goal with the ball. The defender thinks that he has him. Either he will pass the ball further back in midfield or lose it.

But Iniesta doesn't do either. He waits for the defender to rush in, then he pushes the ball with the outside of his right foot to the right and turns. The defender runs past him and then it's up and away into attack. It's not a feat of speed or strength, but Iniesta instead uses pure guile to turn the defender's aggressiveness into his advantage.

One big difference between him and his departed sporting brother Xavi is that Iniesta is much more capable as an attacker in the final third. His dribbling style isn't aggressive as Messi's, nor is it as flashy and fast as Neymar's. He seems to move at an unbothered and fluid speed when pushing the ball, using his immense close control and deceptive hips to shift those who wish to stop him. This, combined with his awareness and passing ability, leads to incredible moments like his dribble and assist against PSG:

It was on display against Real Madrid, as well. After he pushed his way into the heart of Madrid's defense, he chipped a ball into the path of Neymar again.

Then there are times when Iniesta adds the icing on the cake. When the writer of a hit TV show creates a spectacle that is so astounding that the audience have no choice but to acknowledge him. When he speaks their language of explosions and boldness. When Iniesta sends a pass to Neymar, who lays it off to the midfielder to run onto the ball and torpedo it into the net from outside the box.

Iniesta seems to specialize in those goals. Goals that are rebellious against the rest of his game. As if they come from years of pent up aggressiveness that bubbles beneath the surface of the gentle man. They're big, loud and fast -- everything that Iniseta is not when he's doing anything else on the pitch. And he always runs off celebrating in jubilant fashion, though he has often said that he is a tranquil man of no extremes.

His masterpiece against Real Madrid was a bittersweet reminder of his ability. As the years pass and his hair grows more grey and scarce, it becomes harder for Iniesta to stay on the pitch. Even magicians are affected by the same human aches and pains that befall the rest of us. But when he does play, when he is fit and at the peak of his powers, it's apt to remember the words of Samuel Eto'o from 2009.

"When I said Iniesta was the world's best, you laughed. Now you can see I'm right."

Xavi is gone, and there must be a sort of phantom-limb pain when Iniesta looks over his shoulder and doesn't see the familiar figure there. He is incomplete, but incomplete in the same way that great poems are. While the omitted words and stanzas of this poem are a universe in themselves, the gentle lines that are still visible to the eye are wondrous in their own right. Even the Bernabeu faithful were forced to clap for him as he exited the field after orchestrating the destruction of their team. Praise from your greatest rivals' fans is highest praise of all.

Andrés Iniesta Biography

Star soccer midfielder Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final vs. the Netherlands.

Synopsis

Born on May 11, 1984, in Fuentealbilla, Spain, Andrés Iniesta joined FC Barcelona's youth soccer academy at age 12. The quiet midfielder gradually assumed a starring role on the club, leading Barcelona to an incredible six titles in 2009. Iniesta also scored the winning goal in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was a primary force behind Spain's victories in the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

Childhood and Early Career
Andrés Iniesta Luján was born on May 11, 1984, in Fuentealbilla, Albacete, Spain. After joining the Albacete youth squad at age 10, he caught the attention of FC Barcelona management at a tournament, and entered the club's prestigious La Masia academy at age 12.

Iniesta enjoyed an early taste of international success with the junior national team, leading Spain to victories at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2001 and the Under-19 Championship the following year.

Quiet But Deadly

Iniesta made his debut for FC Barcelona's first squad in a Champions League match in October 2002. He helped Barcelona win the league title in his first season as a regular in 2004-05, but truly emerged as a vital contributor when he stepped in for injured midfielder Xavi Hernández and sparked Barcelona to a La Liga and Champions League double the following year.

A natural midfielder with superb passing and dribbling abilities, Iniesta proved versatile enough to lead the offense from a forward role. Although his all-around talents were praised by teammates and opponents alike, the diminutive playmaker tended to recede in the background as stars such as Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o stole the spotlight for Barcelona.

Superstardom

Despite his quiet nature, Iniesta's brilliant play made him impossible to overlook for long. He starred at the 2008 European Championship, earning a spot on the Team of the Tournament after Spain topped Germany in the final. Eleven months later, he netted a last-minute goal vs. Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals, one of the highlights of a year in which Barcelona won a remarkable six trophies.

The pinnacle of Iniesta's career came during the 2010 FIFA World Cup final vs. Holland, when he knocked home a goal in extra time to give Spain its first World Cup championship. At the end of the year, he finished second to teammate Messi for soccer's biggest individual prize, the Ballon d'Or.

Spain made history as the first team to win three successive major international tournaments with its Euro 2012 victory, and Iniesta was named Player of the Tournament. Later that summer, he beat out two of soccer's most renowned scorers, Messi and Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo, to win the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

An invaluable member of the Barcelona roster, Iniesta was expected to sign a contract extension following the club's La Liga and Spanish Super Cup success in 2013.

Iniesta and Pirlo put Man Utd, Arsenal and others on alert

Spanish star unhappy with £200k-a-week Barcelona deal, Juventus could jettison Italian ace

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THE FATHER of Barcelona and Spain star Andres Iniesta has given the clearest hunt yet that his son might be considering a move away from the Camp Nou.

According to the Daily Star, the midfield maestro is the at the centre of a "Man Utd and City battle", with both clubs vying for his hand.

It's all because the Barcelona superstar is "understood to be disappointed" with the terms of a new deal he has been offered by the Spanish giants and is now weighing up his options. Though the deal was said to be in the region of £200,000-a-week, Iniesta's father, Jose Antonio, told Spanish radio programme La Xarxa: "Anyone who knows Andres, who has spent 18 years at Barcelona, shouldn't doubt his words."

Iniesta has made it clear to Barcelona that he wants a better offer and the Star says if that's not forthcoming then City and United are going to swoop in the New Year.

And Iniesta is not the only member of Europe's footballing royalty who could be on his way to the Premier League. The Daily Mail reports that Italian pass master Andrea Pirlo could see out the twilight of his glittering career in England.

He may be 34 years old but the midfield general still has the touch and vision sadly lacking in many Premier League midfields and with his contract up at the end of the season, Juventus could decide to offload him in January.

With that in mind the Mail suggests that Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs will all be beating a path to his door, while the midfielder, who was the star of the show at Euro 2012, could be tempted to rejoin his old AC Milan boss, Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Birmingham are hopeful of keeping hold of Manchester United youngster Jesse Lingard, the Birmingham Mail reports. The striker, who scored all the goals on his debut as Birmingham thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 on Saturday, has only a month left at St Andrews. But the Mail says Birmingham boss Lee Clark is keen to extend the deal so highly does he rate the 20-year-old hitman.

"What we have got to try and do is continue to win games and for Jesse to enjoy his football to make the stay longer," he said. "The month will be up quite quickly [and] Manchester United need to see that he is developing as a player and is enjoying the environment where he is playing."

Asked if he been in touch with United manager David Moyes, Clark confirmed that he had and he remained cautiously optimistic that an extension could be arranged.

According to Talksport Monaco are set to "intensify their efforts" to sign Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala when the transfer window re-opens in January. Manchester City have long been linked with the France international but it appears the 22-year-old is now being courted by moneybags Monaco.

The French club forked out £146m over the summer in new signings but manager Claudio Ranieri hasn't finished his spree and Talksport claims Mangala is now his "number one transfer target" and he's prepared to outbid the Sky Blues.

Finally, Spanish rag Sport says Barcelona, perhaps gearing up for the departure of Iniesta, are tailing Chelsea's ‘Three Amigos' – otherwise known as Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and Cesar Azpilicueta. The trio have seen little in the way of action since Jose Mourinho took over the helm at the Bridge and that, says Sport, has given Barca an idea.

A triple swoop is being planned for the New Year with Torres and Mata the "priority" while Azpilicueta will also be offered a fresh start at the Camp Nou should Martin Montoya refuse to sign a contract extension.

Barcelona hit by Andrés Iniesta injury in win over Bayer Leverkuse

 

Luis Suárez celebrates scoring the winner at the Camp Nou which gave Barcelona a Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen that looked unlikely for a long time. Photograph: Alex Caparros/Getty Images

The manner of Barcelona’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen with two quick goals late on will prove a boost for the team, said Luis Enrique.

The European champions were on course for what would have been only their second home defeat in 34 matches in the Champions League when the substitute, Sergi Roberto, equalised 10 minutes from time and Luis Suárez hit the winner two minutes later.

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“It was a difficult game, they [Leverkusen] had chances and played well,” Luis Enrique, the Barcelona coach, said.“We worked hard and the result is a boost for us. Certainly the way it happened there is no doubt that this will spur us on and I am very happy.”

Barcelona now have four points from two games in Group E while Leverkusen have three.

The German side will consider themselves unlucky to lose having gone ahead through Kyriakos Papadopoulos in the first half and holding their own for most of the time in Camp Nou.

They continued to create chances but Barça put them under a lot of pressure in the second half. Barcelona were without Lionel Messi through injury and Luis Enrique was happy the way the team responded. “Sometimes you win due to belief, sometimes through spirit and others through confidence,” he said.

“Leverkusen had their chances, it was a difficult night. We were without our best player and this result says a lot about the team against a side that never allowed us a second on the ball.

“We were a lot better in the second half and I am happy the way the team always gives its all. We may not have been at our best but the players always gave everything.”

The bad news for Barça was a hamstring injury for Andrés Iniesta and reports suggest he could be out for three weeks. Barça, who are unable to use the players they have signed over the past two transfer windows due to a Fifa ban for bringing in underage players, were already stretched and Iniesta joins Messi and Rafinha in the treatment room.

“We will see what happens and what the doctors say. He is a fundamental player for us and so it is the sad news from the evening,” added Luis Enrique.

Andres Iniesta, the unassuming superstar

The reluctant superstar has overnight become the one of the most famous sporting faces on the planet.

As Andres Iniesta controlled Cesc Fabregas's pass in the 116th minute of the World Cup final, Spain's destiny lay in the hands of its pocket-sized midfield playmaker. One sweet sweep of his right foot and Iniesta, for so long the quiet prince of Spanish football, was suddenly its king.

No more just the sublimely talented creator who lives in the shadows of supposedly more illustrious team-mates, now it is the boy from Fuentealbilla near Albacete in the east of Spain who reigns supreme.
But just who is the 26-year-old who has now won every major honour in the game?

Iniesta's rise to stardom has not been without a struggle, although sometimes often it seemed that maybe he himself was the biggest obstacle to success.

Painfully shy as a youngster, Iniesta joined Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia, when he was 12. He was often homesick and kept himself to himself, a rare sign of his personality showing through with the posters of Barca captain Pep Guardiola that adorned the wall in his room.

But soon it became clear the Catalan club had a special talent on their hands. Invited to train with the first team one day when he was 16, it has gone down in Barcelona history what Guardiola, now coach of the club, said to midfield colleague Xavi when he first laid eyes on Iniesta: "You're going to retire me," whispered the then 29-year-old, "but this kid's going to retire us all."

Iniesta made his debut under Louis van Gaal in 2002, eventually establishing himself in the first-team squad with Van Gaal's successor, fellow Dutchman Frank Rijkaard. But with the likes of Xavi, Ronaldino, Lionel Messi, Deco and Mark van Bommel around, Iniesta could not bed down a regular place in the team, instead calmly filling in a variety of positions as the club used his versatility to good use.

Left out of the starting XI for the Champions League final in 2006, it seemed as though Iniesta was destined to remain a bit-part player. But, gradually, he became indispensible - not through shouting from the rooftops about how good he was, simply by being so good that people began to start championing his cause.

It was not hard to see why. Playing in a midfield three at Barcelona in tandem with Yaya Toure and his footballing soulmate Xavi, Iniesta's class shone like a beacon. It wasn't just that he could move the ball around with the 'tiki-taki' accuracy and verve of Xavi, it was also that his lightning-quick feet and ability to dribble past people were at times eerily similar to his team-mate further up the pitch, Lionel Messi.

Before long, the fact Iniesta kept himself to himself and shied away from the limelight did not matter. He had plenty of people queueing up and tell the world how good he was.

Xavi reckoned the only thing holding his colleague back was the press. "Iniesta is easily Spain's most complete player. He has everything. Well, nearly everything - he needs media backing," said Xavi. Samuel Eto'o went a step further: "Iniesta is the best player in the world, whenever he's on the pitch he creates a spectacle."

If Iniesta didn't do himself any harm with his assured displays as Spain captured the hearts of a continent by winning Euro 2008, what has happened since has ensured he will go down in the annals of the game he so effortlessly graces.

In fact, you can probably trace the exact moment he shook off the shackles of anonymity and finally announced himself to the world: 2135 BST on Wednesday 6 May 2009, when he set to one side the "receive, pass, offer, receive, pass, offer" Barcelona education he had been schooled in and smashed a 20-yard right-foot shot into the top corner of the Chelsea net to send his team into the Champions League final.

From there on, the praise became deafening. After Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson warned that "Xavi and Iniesta get you on this carousel", the 5ft 6in Iniesta put on a footballing masterclass to help Barca beat the Old Trafford outfit 2-0 in Rome.

Sitting in the vanquished dressing room after the match, Wayne Rooney told his team-mates - including a certain Cristiano Ronaldo - that they had just lost to a team directed "by the best player in the world". He wasn't talking about Xavi or Messi but Iniesta. Eto'o was delighted that he had been proven correct: "When I said Iniesta was the world's best, you laughed. Now you can see I'm right."

Yet coming into the World Cup in South Africa, as the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo decorated posters and billboards all over the country, Iniesta was nowhere to be seen.

The man sometimes called 'El Anti-Galactico' in Spain could hardly be more different to the stereotypical modern footballer, eschewing as he does the partying, tattoos and the usual headlines that are so common among his peers. "Discos are not my thing," he once said.

In the mixed zone at the Camp Nou after Barcelona beat Real Madrid in 'El Clasico' in November, I gathered around as a group of Spanish journalists questioned Iniesta. Wearing jeans and a plain white T-shirt, he immediately stood out from the rest of his team-mates. He also spoke so softly even the guys at the front were straining to hear him.

But the most interesting thing was that Xavi, standing about three feet away from Iniesta, stopped talking twice to his interviewers so he could hear what his 'tiki-taki' twin was saying. He might not say much but when he does people listen.

Before Sunday's World Cup final, Iniesta challenged his Spain colleagues to improve,suggesting the level they reached in the 1-0 semi-final win over Germany would not be good enough to take the trophy. He also gave a hint of the excitement he felt at helping his country to a first appearance in the final: ''We have all dreamed of this moment but we have to finish the dream. The last step is the most difficult and the most beautiful."

How prophetic. In a brutally physical game of football in Johannesburg, Iniesta was left in no doubt as to how the Netherlands were going to try to stop him after Van Bommel clattered into him from behind early on to pick up a booking.

Van Bommel's gamble appeared to pay off as a subdued Iniesta struggled to get into the game, giving the ball away with a regularity that borders on sinful where he comes from. But as the second half wore on and the Dutch began to tire, he began to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

A jinking run into the box was only denied its deserved finish by a super sliding tackle from Wesley Sneijder. Then, in extra-time, it was from Iniesta's cute through ball that Fabregas found the legs of Maarten Stekelenburg instead of the far corner.

But Iniesta was not to be denied his match-winning moment. A few minutes after he was hauled down by John Heitinga following an umpteenth one-two with Xavi - the Dutch defender was sent off as a result - Iniesta's crowning glory arrived as he slammed home.

As the final whistle went, Iniesta slumped to his knees and shook his fists on the turf,more than 700 million people around the world watching this most reserved footballer enjoy a very rare public display of emotion.

Back in the bowels of Soccer City about an hour or so later as he collected his man of the match award, it was business as usual for a man who refuses to acknowledge his own importance. "I simply made a small contribution to my team," he said.

The truth may have been somewhat closer when Fabregas, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique burst into the room moments later shouting "you're the best, you're the best" at the man who saved them from going to penalties.

After Iniesta's goal at Chelsea last year, Guardiola revealed some of his midfielder's frustration. "Andres always moans that he doesn't score enough, as if with everything else he does, he has to get goals, too. Tonight he settled his debt forever."

On Sunday, Iniesta's World Cup winner ensured Spain would be forever in his debt.