One of Barcelona’s favourite sons is about to hang up his boots for the last time, with an official announcement due tomorrow, on the 8th October, that Andres Iniesta is about to retire from professional football.
This is a huge moment in the history of the Blaugrana as Iniesta is an iconic figure in the most successful period in the club’s modern history. He’s picking the 8th to make official his decision to retire because he wore the number eight shirt for Barca with distinction. Iniesta won nine La Liga titles, six Copa del Rey winners medals and four Champions Leagues, in a stellar career at the Camp Nou spanning 16 campaigns between 2002 and 2018, and Iniesta is most famed for scoring the winning goal for Spain at the 2010 World Cup final.
He scored his goal four minutes from the end of added time in a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands and that moment etched Iniesta in the memory of football fans world-wide. And now, 24 years on from his professional debut for Barcelona B team, the 40-year old is about to move on to the next phase in his life. One of the best midfielders of all time, Iniesta last played for Emirates club in the UAE until his contract ended in June and now he is considering moving into a coaching capacity. If he does, then there will be no shortage of European top flight clubs trying to tempt him to complete his badges with them.
As part of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team, which is widely thought to be the greatest of all time, Iniesta made 442 appearances for the Catalans, scoring 34 goals, while representing his country 131 times and scoring 14 goals, none quite as memorable as the World Cup winning strike.
In his early years Iniesta started as a defensive midfielder, a quarterback in the mould of his contemporary Andrea Pirlo, the Juventus legend. Both players had balance, vision and composure in spades but, while the Italian became the best holding midfielder in his generation, Iniesta’s flair on the ball took him to more attacking areas. His reading of the game, combative nature and close control of the ball when moving at speed made Iniesta one of the best dribblers in the business, similar in style to Manchester United’s Paul Scholes and his own Blaugrana team-mate Xavi.
The great man’s legacy
Iniesta will always be one of the most popular Barcelona and Spain players of all time and comparisons will be drawn whenever a new star begins to shine at the Camp Nou. It’s unfair, of course, to badge anyone as ‘the next Iniesta’; young players must make their own way in the game, but this current Barcelona team has some very exciting midfielders.
Lamine Yamal had a stellar Euro 2024 but he plays in a more advanced role and often on the wing while Fermin Lopez and Gavi are both making a name for themselves in the Barca midfield. But of all the young Barca stars, it is the 21-year old Pedri who draws the most comparisons. He has already made over 100 appearances for the Blaugrana and has 26 caps for Spain and Pedri has shown the ability to play a number of roles as an attacking midfielder, a wide man or someone who can drop deep to put his foot on the ball and control the pace of the game.
Like Iniesta, Pedri is quick, clever and industrious, technically excellent and calm under pressure; and he is a player with the world at his feet, 19 years younger than the great man and with all the opportunities in a new era. Pedri will make his fair share of La Liga 2024 highlights if he says fit and focussed, just as Iniesta did.
This is an exciting era of football in Catalonia. The Spain class of 2024 are Kings of Europe once again and had plenty of Blaugrana representation in their triumph in Germany. And the current Barcelona team are ticking along nicely under Hansi Flick, though the latest SBOTOP La Liga 2024 betting odds back a Real Madrid triumph come next May.
I bet it would be a different story if Iniesta was still in the dark red and blue of Barcelona. He’s still the only man in history to be voted man-of-the-match in the finals of the Champions League, the World Cup and the Euros; and I suspect that incredible record will never be broken.
Current Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique coached Iniesta at Barcelona and he recently said: “After (Lionel) Messi, Iniesta became the most inventive player in Spanish football. Like Harry Potter, 1-2-3 and whoosh, he’s past the player. It’s like he has a magic wand.”
It’s difficult to coach that kind of magic!
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