Resurgent Andres Iniesta Primed to Lead Spain Through Euro 2016

Thirteen minutes were up on the clock, and Andres Iniesta had retreated into his own half at the Camp Nou. Receiving the ball from Javier Mascherano, he was in the most delicate of spots: 80 yards from goal, isolated, being closed down and with his back to nearly all his team-mates.  

In so many ways, it was a turning point.

Immediately, Iniesta spun in a flash. Right there, no one could have been aware that he was kickstarting a move that would change so much—the scoreboard, this game, his career trajectory, the outlooks of both Barcelona and Spain—but that's what he was doing. 

Almost gliding, he set off and breezed past one Paris Saint-Germain player. Then another. Then another. And another. As he skipped and danced through the crowd, the grace of his slalom became truly captivating—the footwork, the effortless speed, the artistry.

Eventually, after more than 50 dazzling yards, he fed Neymar, who scored. But in the minds of those who were there that night—a night in April 2015—the sequence is still going and Iniesta is still running, still weaving and still delighting.

And that's the thing: He still is. 

More than a year on, Iniesta hasn't stopped doing exactly that and is heading into Euro 2016 with Spain in the sort of form that's a match for anything we've previously seen from him.

On Tuesday, against Georgia in La Roja's final warm-up game ahead of the tournament, he entered play in the second half, and amid the malaise exhibited from those around him, he sparkled like only he can.

"Iniesta came on after the break; [David] Silva a while later," wrote AS editor Alfredo Relano afterward. "Of course, everything changed. Especially with Iniesta, who once again taught his lesson. He is phenomenal, both physically and with his clarity of thought."

It wasn't surprising, either.  

From that moment at the Camp Nou against PSG late in the 2014-15 season, Iniesta has been steadily building to this, and in the second half of 2015-16, he was back to being it: utterly majestic, the architect of everything. 

It was in his most recent appearance for Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey against Sevilla when we saw its culmination. With the best part of an hour still to play in regular time, the Catalans were reduced to 10 men after Mascherano brought down Kevin Gameiro, and against buoyed opponents, Luis Enrique's men desperately needed someone to take control.

So Iniesta did.

Spinning, twisting, evading and showcasing complete mastery on the ball, the Barcelona veteran time and time again acted as the pressure relief valve for his team. Sevilla, with an extra man, wanted to dominate, but they couldn't. Because they couldn't get near Iniesta: When then they pressed him, he wriggled through them; when they cornered him, he slipped away through the tiniest spaces; when they tired, he didn't. 

"We're very glad to see Iniesta in such a good moment, like we saw in the final," said Spain manager Vicente del Bosque to Cadena COPE (h/t Goal's David Manuca) soon afterward.

Del Bosque also recently expressed his belief to Goal's Alberto Pinero and Ben Hayward that "now Iniesta is in one of the best moments of his life," while Silva, when asked about his national team-mate's performance against Sevilla, said to reporters: "For us, it's not news that Andres played like he did."

In isolation, Silva's right: It's not news. But in the context of the wider picture, it is. 

After that enchanting run against PSG, Iniesta was asked in a television interview (h/t AS) whether the best version of him had returned. "I never left," he responded. 

Physically, he hadn't. But figuratively, the best of him temporarily had. 

For much of 2014-15, Iniesta looked like a great falling away from his peak. He entered that season on the back of Barcelona's stale 2013-14 campaign and Spain's implosion at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and around him, Barcelona were changing. 

Under Enrique, the team was becoming faster and more direct. The emphasis was being shifted away from the midfield and to the front three. Qualities such as work rate and industry—like those provided by Ivan Rakitic—were becoming more valued. And Iniesta and Xavi were no longer the dominant reference points. 

For the latter, that was his final season in Catalonia, and though the former still had more time to contribute, there were growing numbers who felt the now-32-year-old didn't fit this new, altered Barcelona—a Barcelona in search of a something more dynamic and devastating. 

With his short passing, dribbling and ball retention, Iniesta was viewed as a clash to that. 

"I don't know how many people thought that, but I did hear that, especially last season," Iniesta told El Periodico recently (h/t Grup 14). "All changes require adaptation time."

And so it has proved. 

Steadily, the midfielder's game has evolved again. Over the course of 2015-16, he showed a capacity to drop deeper, flashing longer balls to his forwards and onrushing full-backs with precision and speed to help facilitate a more rapid overall style.

"I feel that if I am myself I can play in any system and in any team," he added. "I do feel somewhat different. I don't know if I should say more complete. Maybe now I have the job of helping more, like more of a midfielder, with more influence on the game and in helping bring out the ball from the back."

Though it's not reflected in the numbers, if you rewatch many of Barcelona's games from the recently concluded season, it's remarkable how many of the team's goals and scoring chances arrived two or three touches after Iniesta had destabilised the opposition. His passes consistently cut holes in teams. His five-yard bursts on the ball repeatedly collapsed opposing systems. 

"Above [everything], he has the ability to unbalance opposition teams," said former manager Pep Guardiola last summer in a programme about Iniesta for Telecinco (h/t Sport).

If football counted the hockey assist, Iniesta's stats would be extraordinary. And that's the key part in his resurgence; in 2015-16, Iniesta found a way to adapt and to operate as the efficient, high-speed delivery service Enrique demanded for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

And that's significant for Spain, too. 

Like Barcelona, La Roja are undergoing a period of evolution in which new faces are being introduced and a reworked style is being pursued. In midfield, the direct passing of Cesc Fabregas and Koke is being used more than it has previously. Out wide, the aggressive and goal-focused Nolito has burst to prominence. Up front, the pacey, shoulder-playing Alvaro Morata spearheads the attack. 

Ahead of Euro 2016, Spain were looking to adopt a certain extent of the method now employed by Barcelona. The intent is to be zippier, more swift from back to front, capable of working through the gears more quickly.

Iniesta will be central to that. Throughout 2015-16, he honed his game to thrive amid such a dynamic. The majesty remained, but the delivery of it was quicker, his damage shifting from death by 1,000 cuts to death by two or three.

Spain need that. So does Del Bosque, who believes Iniesta is in the form of his life. And he might be right.