Andrés Iniesta does not hide his desire to return to FC Barcelona with whom he lived so many successful nights: "I would love to return to Barça, it is my home, but I still do not know in what capacity: coach, sports director or something like that", he acknowledged in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. The now Vissel Kobe player plans to finish the remaining year of his contract before deciding his next step: "I'll stay here for another year (in Japan) and then we'll see."
"In any case, the first thing I have to do is train and, for now, I still see myself as a player," says the midfielder, who dreams of the day he can return to Barcelona: "It's nice to think that someone who has been and given so much a club can continue to do so even if they stop playing, but the right conditions must be met for this. You can't say 'I'm not going to do anything, but let me come back.
At the gates of the transcendental duel of the Champions League against Inter Milan, Iniesta assures that "it is vital that Barça beat Inter to stay alive". "The result of the first leg was very negative for Barça due to the consequences that it entails for the second leg," he adds. The man from Fuentealbilla already knows what it's like to face the Italian team with Barcelona: "The matches against Inter are always very exciting and difficult. Everything always happens," he warns. And it is that the player from La Mancha lived in his own skin the elimination of the Catalan team at the hands of the Italian in 2010, when Inter won the semifinals of the Champions League: “I have decidedly negative memories, because of the elimination and because I was injured. I was sick and I didn't know if I would make it to the World Cup, that challenge was a double disappointment for me”.
During the interview with the Italian newspaper, Andrés Iniesta also talks about two Barça pearls with a great future such as Gavi and Pedri: "They are two very young boys who have a great present and a spectacular future", he predicts and encourages them to focus on a referent of the stature of Sergio Busquets: “Sergio's career is one of the best in the history of football. Gavi and Pedri have at their side someone from whom they can learn a lot, who can support them and help them grow on and off the pitch”.
“They play very naturally, with ease, I don't think they feel the pressure. Rather it is outside where they would do well to leave them alone. It is clear that they have to convince as Xavi and I did. They carry football inside, you don't notice that they suffer on the field or that they shy away from responsibility. You can see that they enjoy it and that is something that comes from within: either you have it or you don't", concludes the midfielder.
