Barcelona suffered a shock 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in theSupercopa de Espana.
This first leg match was expected to see the Catalan club in full swing after the recently captured the UEFA Super Cup to the growing list of trophies. However, manager Luis Enrique opted for an inexperienced the starting line-up in order to keep his first-team players fit for the new la Liga season. This move backfired immediately after Barcelona were second best in all areas of the game. The team made several high-profile defence were mistakes that were key towards this defeat and midfielder Iniesta did not offer any excuses.
He also ruled out the possibility of a comeback in the second leg, which will take place shortly. Even though Barcelona have been scoring goals at will, Iniesta feels that this advantage will prove very superior for the losing finalist of the Copa del Rey 2015. It was Barcelona who beat Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey last season. The prospects of winning a sextuple have been thrown out of the window following this defeat. Barcelona will still hope to lift mid-season trophies like the FIFA Club World Cup and more. Read more »
Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta has not had such an influential season for his club in comparison to other seasons.
A few years ago Iniesta, Xavi and Messi were the main stars of the Spanish club but things have sustained a dramatic change as Suarez and Neymar have now attracted all the attention and have turned into the central figures at the Camp Nou.
Xavi Hernandez has already signed a contract with the Qatari club Al-Sadd as the Spanish midfielder will be ending his relation with Barcelona at the end of the current season and Andres Iniesta seems to be heading to the out of Barcelona as well.
Iniesta has a contract with Barcelona which extends until 2018 but it’s obvious that he isn’t the same player he used to be some years ago. After having made over 300 appearances for Barcelona, the best days of Iniesta are behind him and the 30 year old midfielder took the chance to give his thanks to the manager who allowed him to make his debut, Louis van Gaal.
Andres Iniesta said: “My debut with the team, it was the most important day of my life. It was a dream come true. These are very good memories. I was nervous but also very grateful to Van Gaal and all the coaches I’ve had before. I was 17 years of age and delighted to be in the first-team, and he gave me that opportunity. I knew that he had always done tremendous work with the young players.’’ Read more »
Barcelona managed to secure a strong footing in the Champions League last 16 tie against Manchester City.
They won the first leg 2-1 at the Etihad stadium, which puts them in a strong position. The advantage could have been even more significant had Lionel Messi converted the penalty awarded in the latter stages of the match. Still, the Catalan club can go into the second leg in front of their own supporters with a lot of confidence. Midfielder Andres Iniesta, though, warns Barcelona against complacency against a team of City’s quality.
The reigning Premier League champions have been suffering from inconsistent form throughout this campaign, but they have produced some brilliant performances nonetheless. They were knocked out of the Champions League at the same stage last season. Barcelona were their opponents back then too and City almost came close to pulling a major shock at the Camp Nou. Iniesta says that the team should be focused from the first whistle. Read more »
Not being able to sign any new players during a transfer window is a huge disadvantage for managers as they aren’t able to strengthen the areas of their respective clubs that have appeared to be most vulnerable and Barcelona’s Luis Enrique is not going to be able to reinforce some of the more weaker sections of his team due to the transfer ban that Barcelona received which will not allow the Spanish club on signing any new performers and it’s going to last the entire year of 2015.
Even with this transfer ban, Andres Iniesta believes that the team has enough depth to continue winning trophies.
Iniesta said that his teammates aren’t even contemplating finishing this season without winning trophies as they are just focused to continue playing despite everything that has and will occur in the ongoing season. Read more »
October 2, 2015 9:24 am | 