The Illusionist : Don Andrés Iniesta

https://twitter.com/barcagalaxy/status/990767214285459456

Partly a curiosity question and partly a challenge.

Which is the most recent player you can think of whose trophy haul matches up to this one? Lets not just do a numerical count of the trophies but also look at the weightage of each trophy.

I may be saying this a bit too often but its mainly because everywhere on the web people are missing this one point which I think is so crucial.

The only player to have played in and won 4 UCL finals with Barcelona.

A quick recap is in order since there will never be a better time than now to revisit this :-

2006 - Came on in the second half and helped to change the game in favor of Barca. Xavi has said that if he had not come on we would have lost.

2009 - A mesmerizing performance that had the whole world gushing which included the rivals on the night such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney who called him the best player in the world.

2011 - Maybe stood out a little less individually compared to Messi and Xavi but played almost flawlessly as a wonderful team player in what is considered by many as our greatest ever performance.

2015 - Man of the match. This when we had become an MSN team and he had supposedly become an also ran in the team.

Different looks - same genius :-

https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/990229325541617664

That he could infuse the game with such beauty but still have so much passion and determination.
That he could be so brilliant individually but still be able to sacrifice it all for the team.
That he could achieve unfathomable success and still conduct himself with so much class and dignity both on and off the pitch.

https://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/news/2017-2018/video-the-best-of-andres-iniesta-at-fc-barcelona?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=fcbarcelona&utm_campaign=1d5a4a8a-3f76-45aa-9bab-e2b48f66a8fd

There is a symphony playing in the background to complement the symphony on the pitch.

http://iniestarodeado.com/en

A unique website that shows how often in several games so many players of the opposition used to surround Iniesta.

Also here is Iniesta's official website and other official links.

http://www.andresiniesta.es/es/

https://www.facebook.com/AndresIniesta

https://www.instagram.com/andresiniesta8/

https://www.youtube.com/user/andresiniestatv

https://twitter.com/andresiniesta8

The club's tribute page :-

https://www.fcbarcelona.com/news/features/all-about-andres-iniesta

Sad to see him leave. An all time great and the greatest midfielder to play the game imo. Best pure dribbler I have personally seen.
Thanks for all the memories legend.

alexjanosik wrote:Sad to see him leave. An all time great and the greatest midfielder to play the game imo. Best pure dribbler I have personally seen.
Thanks for all the memories legend.

alex, high praise indeed!!!

I am delighted to read such words and even more so because they are coming from you.

You are the one who for years emphatically said Xavi is the best midfielder of all time. Now that you have showered Iniesta with such an accolade I will try to guess why you have come to such a conclusion. I think it's about his big match performances, his technical wizardry and his versatility - ability to play that well in different playing formations, playing styles, playing positions, etc. and to be able to play the role of a leader and follower equally comfortably.

I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes as I watched him come off in the Camp Nou for the last time in his last Clasico.

I know this is not the end, but what an amazing career. One of the greatest midfielders of all time.

And another good performance, with some wonderful dribbling. I will forever hold Iniesta in the highest regard as a footballer, as a sportsman, and as a person. The quintessential big game player

I've always admired how he doesn't run with the ball but rather glides with it as if on ice and in skates. One of the most classy players as well. Words cannot describe his genius though, it's very saddening but all things must pass and so do great players. It'll be nice to come back to watch some of his performances several years from now and remember the good times.

messixaviesta wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:Sad to see him leave. An all time great and the greatest midfielder to play the game imo. Best pure dribbler I have personally seen.
Thanks for all the memories legend.

alex, high praise indeed!!!

I am delighted to read such words and even more so because they are coming from you.

You are the one who for years emphatically said Xavi is the best midfielder of all time. Now that you have showered Iniesta with such an accolade I will try to guess why you have come to such a conclusion. I think it's about his big match performances, his technical wizardry and his versatility - ability to play that well in different playing formations, playing styles, playing positions, etc. and to be able to play the role of a leader and follower equally comfortably.

I personally prefer Xavi and his style but I cant deny Ineista's genius. Its about dominance on the biggest stages imo. Iniesta has done it consistently. I was watching a tribute video and it brought goosebumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_OaKYKUKWI

alex, thanks for the reply. I have been watching so many videos and reading so many articles on Iniesta but I had not seen this one before.

http://sport360.com/article/football/barcelona/279513/relive-andres-iniestas-barcelona-career-in-trophies

Football's Greatest is an older video but a major favorite of mine. Watched it on TV first time. It's part of a program in which each episode was dedicated to a great footballer. I happened to see this episode just by chance and wasn't aware of the schedule before hand. It made for a memorable moment.

Amongst friends is a nice video. Some fun stuff but also some of the beauty of his football.

My favorite video is the second last one. In a very short video they have included the who's who of football.

The last one is the full farewell ceremony. I was surprised to see Xavi weeping at the ceremony. Never knew him to be such an emotional person.

http://www.goal.com/en/lists/iniestas-greatest-barcelona-moments/19ruyw9w9z3id1ho1z8on0zktv

http://www.goal.com/en-in/lists/iniestas-greatest-clasico-moments/1q3cmordu7lfi1bzbc4g1nebg2

Nice lists but they missed the mesmerizing performance in the UCL 2009 final.

At last it's time for the last ever match. I wonder what kind of arrangements will be made. Buffon yesterday did a lap of honor shaking hands with so many fans. I doubt Iniesta will do that but he can at least do one round of the stadium applauding the fans.

Hope to see him play 80 minutes at least and then come off to his last ever standing ovation in a Barca shirt.

There is also our La Liga trophy presentation which will be even more special due to this farewell.

I'll be wearing my Iniesta-Barca shirt tonight, even though it is slightly torn.

When we talk about the greatest Barcelona players of all time, there are two ways of looking at this subject.

One is the greatest players to have played the game who happened to spend time in Barcelona, even if it was just one season.

The other is ranking players based on their contributions to Barcelona as a football player. In such a list we must leave out football icons like Maradona and Ronaldo since they spent very little time with us.

One such list is given below which I found quite convincing. I would like to know the thoughts of others. What would you change in this list both in terms of removing and adding and the ordering of the list?

https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2016/10/12/13225426/the-10-greatest-barcelona-players-of-all-time

The whole ceremony was done in a stylish but elegant way and will make for a wonderful memory. Thanks to all those who organized it. I watched every minute of it on TV and am still watching the part that happened after the TV coverage had ended.

Nothing lasts forever. This really is where it ends. At least it was a beautiful end.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/infinite-iniesta-barcelona-bid-farewell-to-andres-but-hell/lbuiy92ms9kv1davdfomhtydh

http://www.goal.com/en/news/lies-damn-lies-statistics-iniesta-was-about-art-not-numbers/1g1dv92v3288p1dqxfbgzltzeu

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/andres-iniesta-joins-vissel-kobe-leaves-barcelona-2018-world-cup-a8366636.html

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/624/cpsprodpb/CC26/production/_101726225_barca.png

https://twitter.com/vissel_kobe/status/999557890108096513/photo/1