Lopetegui says Iniesta ‘better than last year’ and plays down Pique injury concerns

Spain coach Julen Lopetegui has been talking about a couple of Barcelona players with the national team set to face international friendlies against Germany and Argentina.

Lopetegui was particularly impressed with Andres Iniesta who he feels is in a rich vein of form and also played down concerns over Gerard Pique’s knee.

“He [Iniesta] is better than last year, with more continuity,” he said

”I see him [Pique] great. He will be with us and he will be willing and committed, like every time he comes with the national team.

”He has a good knee. He only has an overload,” he said. “We will have to take care of him a bit in training so he is good against Germany.”

Source | El Partidazo de COPE (via Goal)

Both players have struggled with injury recently. Iniesta is just back from a hamstring problem while Pique has been playing with a knee issue for a little while.

Let’s hope they both come back from international duty unscathed as Barcelona have a pretty intense April to look forward to with the title in sight, a Copa del Rey final and a Champions League quarter-final against Roma.

Source: barcablaugranes.com