Barcelona veteran dedicates MVP accolade to teammates after Belgrade match | OneFootball

FC Barcelona beat Red Star Belgrade 5-2 in the Champions League last night, moving into the top 8 of the League Phase table for the first time this season. As of now, they have the best goal difference among all the teams in the competition as well.

What Hansi Flick is doing with this team is remarkable. Last season, a 5-2 win would have been considered a dream night, but now it feels like Barcelona missed an opportunity to put even more past their struggling Serbian opponents on a European away night.

Iñigo Martínez opened the scoring for Barcelona on the night and had an outstanding game defensively as well. The Spanish veteran did not put a foot wrong and was deservedly awarded the MVP for the game against Belgrade.

Speaking about the accolade, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo, the Spanish veteran dedicated his award to his teammates. He said:

“This MVP is for the whole team. We’ve all worked for this. Normally, I’m not used to these individual awards. For me, the most important thing is the team trophies, and we’ll keep fighting for them.”

One of the leaders on the pitch, Iñigo admitted that Barcelona relaxed a bit after the first goal, which led to them conceding. However, he pointed out that they had a dominant second-half display. Iñigo continued:

“After the goal, we relaxed a bit, but in the second half, we were ourselves. We tend to relax when we score, and they pressed us. In the second half, we came out with a different rhythm, and it showed.”

He then went on to discuss the goal he scored that night, revealing that it was a rehearsed set-piece routine from training. He said:

“The truth is that the play was rehearsed, and it turned out perfect. We saw they were struggling at the far post, and when I saw the ball coming, I knew it was a good one. You’re always happy when you can help the team.”

Iñigo’s statements show that, as good as the team is in open play, they also put a lot of effort into preparing for set pieces. The Spanish defender is one of Barcelona’s biggest threats from dead-ball situations and has already scored twice this season.