The other games he’s missed this season have all been in the Cup competitions and Barça have always got through despite his absence. Iniesta has been an ever present in the league so far this year and he’s only missed out on the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, a Champions League Cup game and four Spanish Cup matches.

Four wins and two defeats

Iniesta began the season late as a result of his efforts in South Africa and thus missed the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, when Seville beat Barça 3-1 and was also left out of the squad for the two Spanish Cup games against Ceuta. He missed the dead Group game against Rubin Kazan (2-0) when he was an unused substitute and the second leg of the Spanish Cup quarter final against Betis, when Barça lost 3-1. All of those games were missed to give him a break, but he missed the second leg of the Spanish Cup semi final against Almeria, which Barça won 0-3, through injury.

Second suspension of his career

Tuesday will be only the second time in his nine year career with the first team that Iniesta has been suspended for a game, having missed the 2007/08 defeat at Deportivo (2-0) for running up five yellow cards.