Barcelona skipper Andres Iniesta says the famed Barcelona philosophy must never be relegated to the background no matter what temptation of getting results without playing well does.


The 32-year-old made the call after La Blaugrana’s friendly match win over Qatari side Al Alhi on ksksk

This comes off the back of voices recently raised against Coach Luis Enrique’s tweaks in Barca’s style of play. Many believe it has made the Catalans drop most of the identity that embodied their famous tiki-taka. Since the former Celta Vigo’s coach’s return to Camp Nou – this time in the capacity of team manager as against his former youth coach post- in the summer of 2015, the Catalan side have been observed to have dropped the intensity with which they possess the ballthroughout the 90 minutes. They are now more eager to play long balls – very rare prior to now – and are less bothered about opponents having the ball to themselves.

Iniesta however debunked such views and maintained that: “It is not enough to just win but how you do it, and how often you do it. It is not winning in any waypossible.”

“We have to continue believing in the Barcelona philosophy. The Barcelona philosophy has to be there and survive,” he added.

Speaking on how he’s been adjusting to the demands of the beautiful game owing to the downside increase-in-age brings to professionals, the World Cup winner said:

“The passing of time has changed me, the 22-year-old Iniesta is not the same as the 26-year-old or the 30-year-old or the 32-year-old. It is an evolution and I think it is a good thing.”

Barcelona remain six points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga table and will on Sunday host the Catalunya derby against local rivals Espanyol as they hope to keep Real Madrid on their toes to avoid any chance of Cristiano Ronaldo and his team mates running away with the title.