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BARCLEONA

55 days without a full game: What is wrong with Andres Iniesta?

Iniesta has played just 130 minutes in the last nine league games for Barcelona and not since the 8th of January has he completed 90 minutes in a game against Villarreal.

BarcelonaUpdate:
El centrocampista del FC Barcelona Andrés Iniesta, pensativo en el banquillo.
Quique GarcíaEFE

Andres Iniesta was rested against Sporting Gijón on Wednesday night when Barça ran riot at the Camp Nou against their opponents, winning 5-1. The idea was that he would be ready for Celta Vigo and PSG in the following number of days. He only came on against Celta when the game was already won and played just 23 minutes. It is in keeping with his drop in minutes under Luis Enrique this season. He has only played 130 minutes in the last nine league games, 71 of those coming when he started at the Vicente Calderon against Atletico Madrid.

Iniesta left out too often

Iniesta has not started and finished a game for Barça since January 8th when they played Villarreal, a game which they drew 1-1. He was on the bench for the next game and left out of the squad with an injury for the next three and has just recently been thrown back into the mix, with substitute appearences against Alaves and Leganes. He has struggled with a soleus muscle injury, which is a notoriously difficult injury to heal, located just under the calf muscle. 

Protecting Andres Iniesta has become one of Luis Enrique's great tasks while also keeping him fit and match-ready. He should be ready for PSG and will most likely start but whether he can finish is another question.

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