The Catalan craftsman

People are billing the Champions League final as a battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are widely seen as the world's two best players.

To my mind, though, the best player is someone who may not even play in Rome - Andrés Iniesta. It would be such a shame if he didn’t make it, because I think he’s been the best player in the world for a few months now.

Iniesta can do things neither Ronaldo nor Messi can do. On the wing he can play almost as well as Messi, and he can also play in the centre. If he scored more goals he would be considered one of the top three players in the world by everybody.

Everyone keeps telling him to score more goals. Earlier on in the season he played a one-two with Eto’o, could’ve shot but passed for Eto’o to score instead. When asked why he passed, Iniesta said: “Well, Eto’o wants to be the top scorer in Spain.” A couple of weeks later he did exactly the same with Messi, and when he was asked why he’d done it again, he said: “Well, Messi hasn’t scored for a couple of games.”

He can do it. If he starts scoring then he would be considered by everybody as one of the best around. Paul Scholes is a good comparison to him, as there is more than one similarity. He’s definitely got the vision of Scholes and he can play centre-midfield, but also out wide, because he has the pace that Scholes never had.

He’s the quiet character who isn’t egotistical and works hard for the team. He could go the whole of his life playing for Barcelona, and people might struggle to remember his name, even though he was a great player. Scholes has been the same at United. At some point he was the best player or one of the very best players in European football, but nobody would say that at the time.

Iniesta is so important to Barça's hopes of lifting the trophy. If Pep Guardiola's staff can get him - and also Thierry Henry - fit for Rome, then I'd have to say I fancy them to overcome United.

The views expressed in this blog are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Manchester United FC.