Iniesta: Messi and Neymar would be missed

Andrés Iniesta said the team is confident that Neymar and Leo Messi will recover in time for Sunday’s Club World Cup final, stating “they would be missed”. Iniesta spoke after Barcelona’s victory over Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande in the semi-final in Yokohama, a result that puts the Catalan club “on the verge of completing the objective, which is to win the trophy,” claimed the midfielder.

“We’ve got a good chance of winning, which could be special for everyone,” he told the media. When asked about Neymar’s absence due to injury and the late withdrawal of Messi down to renal colic, Iniesta said “these are obstacles we haveto overcome as a team.”

The Argentinian and Brazilian forwards “are important players for us but we must continue, hopefully on Sunday we can count on the pair of them to make everything easier,” he said.

“It would make things harder going into the game with neither of them, but hopefully they have time to recover between now and Sunday, if not both, then at least one of them,” added the Spanish international. When asked about the game against Guangzhou, Iniesta admitted that Barça “didn’t find things easy in the first half” but after the opening goal “the team settled into the game”.

As for Barcelona’s opponent in the final, the midfield man said that Argentinian side River Plate are “a very difficult side to beat, with some quality individuals who’re good on the ball”. “We will try to go out and play our game, and I think we will have plenty of chances” he concluded.