La Liga: Iniesta desperate for title but admits Barca’s season has been poor

Andy West 10:14 13/05/2014
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  • Tackling the title: Andres Iniesta (c) is keen to end Barca's season on a high.

    Andres Iniesta admits winning La Liga title won’t paper over the cracks of a poor season for Barcelona but insists he and the team are ready for Saturday’s do-or-die encounter at the Nou Camp.

    Despite Barca’s disappointing stalemate at Elche on Sunday evening, their title hopes are still alive thanks to Atletico’s failure to beat Malaga at the Vicente Calderon, meaning Iniesta and his team can claim the trophy with a victory while current leaders Atletico only need a draw.

    The majority of the last few weeks at the Nou Camp have been spent in a mournful mood of negative self-reflection, with Barca repeatedly addressing their “failure” this season and reluctantly accepting their need to rebuild for the future.

    However, a series of unexpected results for both Atletico and Real Madrid – who are now completely out of the running – has left the door open for Barca to win a title that none of their followers had even dreamed could be possible for much of past month.

    Attempting to claw back some of the mental momentum that his team have plainly been lacking in recent weeks, Iniesta said: “This is our 

    final and our whole year is going to be decided in 90 minutes.

    “A lot of months, a lot of situations, a lot of things…all in 90 minutes. Nothing more. That extra push the fans give us is going to be important and it’s clear the team will respond.”

    “Winning the league can’t cover up a poor season and if we do win it that shouldn’t change anything about the future of the team. [It] would be a great way to sign off and it’d be good to do it for Martino after all he has had to go through.”

    Iniesta, who has already won six league titles with Barca, conceded his team have been playing poorly in recent weeks, suffering consecutive draws after Getafe and Elche at the end of a run of just two wins in seven games in all competitions.

    “We need to be ready, focused in the final few metres, during the last few passes,” said Iniesta.

    “We’re lacking sharpness in taking chances and that’s what has held us back in the last few games. We’ve made chances but we’re lacking that freshness. Not just the strikers, but the whole team. It has cost us.”

    Iniesta rejected suggestions that Atleti would be more worthy winners and that Barca would be somewhat resented if they manage to steal away the title on the final day, asking: “Why don’t we deserve it?

    “We’ve been leaders, we’ve got through bad times, we’ve run, we’ve suffered. Whoever wins it will deserve it. We’ve fought like everyone else because the league is an effort over a whole season. If we win it, we’ll deserve it.

    “It would be amazing. When we won the league with 100 points, people seemed to think it was nothing. We’d celebrate more than ever if we win it.”

    However, he was careful to avoid leaving himself open to accusations of disrespect towards Atletico, adding: “Fighting Barca and Madrid is hard and they’ve had an amazing season. I take my hat off to Atletico, but for us it is important to keep winning competitions.”

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