Leo Messi and Andrés Iniesta, face to face

The two players with their respective individual prizes to talk about their origins and the essence of the Masia style 

Messi: “The Barça philosophy isn’t about just one coach or another, it’s based on an idea, a line that is laid down and all coaches follow. That has always been the way in which the Club has worked with the academy” 

Iniesta: “The Barça way of playing – which we’ve worked on for such a long time –helps create success. The most important thing is to have an idea, but you have to have the right players to put it into practice – the two have to go hand in hand” 

Posing with their individual awards as 2012’s best players, Leo Messi and Andrés Iniesta spoke about the similarities between their early years, the problems of leaving their families as youngsters and the importance of the sporting model at the Club, which they have both been brought up with.

Messi is clear that Barça’s much admired model is something that has been a long time in the making: “the Barça philosophy isn’t about just one coach or another, it’s based on an idea, a line that is laid down and all coaches follow. That has always been the way in which the Club has worked with the academy”. What’s more important though, a defined style or players of the calibre of Messi or Iniesta ? Andres is clear: “the Barça way of playing – which we’ve worked on for such a long time –helps create success. The most important thing is to have an idea, but you have to have the right players to put it into practice – the two have to go hand in hand”.