Why Andres Iniesta Is Indispensable For Barcelona

Andres Iniesta was meant to be a Real Madrid player. Born in the Albacete municipality of Fuentealbilla, his parents, though, decided to drive him one day to the youth academy of the second most successful club of Spain and Real Madrid's archrivals FC Barcelona. At the farmhouse of La Masia, the Iniesta duo observed the familial and friendly atmosphere, the touch of nostalgia and the symbolic significance with the maternity hospital on one side and the crematorium on the other. It was then that they decided that their son would grow up to play for Barcelona, not for Real Madrid.

Madrid's loss was Barcelona's gain. 12 or so years fast forward and Andres Iniesta Lujan is arguably the best creative midfielder in entire Europe and he is just 24 years of age. Iniesta is one of the few chosen ones who can say that they have won most of the major silverware in football before they could fully show what they is capable of. At 21 he won his first Spanish league title, a year later he was a UEFA Champions League winner and two years down the line the Albacete native was celebrating his new status as a European champion.

This season Barcelona have been playing the best football on the planet and have been breaking all sorts of record. Last season's Fantastic Four of Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry has been chiseled off to the Holy Trinity with Ronaldinho shipped off to AC Milan but unlike last season this time around the football and the results have been worthy of the hype. Henry has rediscovered his rhythm and scoring touch, Eto'o is deadly as ever and leads the Pichichi in La Liga and Messi is the finest player in the world.
And as so often happens in a team of galacticos, one or two players remain as the unsung heroes.

Okay, Iniesta wouldn't fall into that category as he has got his due share of praise from the media as well as from the public, but his name is not necessarily taken in the same breath as that of Henry's, Eto's, Messi's or even Xavi's is. Iniesta doesn't have the scoring finesse of Henry, the frightening demeanour of Eto'o or the genius of Messi, but even then there is no doubt that he is an indispensable part of this galactic Barcelona side.

Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola deploys Andres Iniesta mostly on the left side of the midfield from where he has the freedom to drift into the centre. His role is to connect with Xavi and be the limb while Xavi is the brain. Iniesta's versatility allows him to play in any position across the entire midfield and even as a striker but this season Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola has played him in a wider left position from where he has been given the licence to cut in. His pace on and off the ball implies that he can dribble with ease, cut inside and terrorize the opposition backline. But it also means that he is quick to react to a teammate's through ball or cross.

Barcelona suffered a dip in form and result in late February/early March when they dropped eight points and allowed Real Madrid to close the gap at the top of the table to six points. It was more than just a coincidence that Iniesta was injured in those games. It was almost more than just a coincidence that the return of the Spanish international midfielder saw the Blaugrana wins seven successive league matches after that thrilling defeat to Atletico Madrid.

And it's not that this is the first season that Iniesta is playing so well; he has been doing for the past two or three seasons. Since his debut against Club Brugge in October 2002 in the UEFA Champions League, the Ilusionista has consistently improved in performance and stature. In 2002-2003 he featured in six La Liga matches, scoring none; in 2003-2004 he played in 10 league matches and scored once; in 2004-2005 it was 12 starts and 25 substitute appearances and 2 goals; in 2005-2006 he started 15 league games and came on as a substitute in 19, besides featuring in 11 matches in the Champions League; in 2006-2007 Iniesta was a regular for Barcelona, scoring eight times in 28 league starts and last season again he started 28 league matches.

At 24, Andres Iniesta is years away from reaching his peek. And the best thing is that he still retains that boyish charm, that naiveté that comes when you play football and enjoy it too, when you don't dissect football into minuscule parts of nothing, a philosophy that Barcelona Cruyffian football is famous for.

Subhankar Mondal