Goalscoring Return Underlines Andres Iniesta's Importance to Barcelona

It had been 40 days since Andres Iniesta had last donned the Barcelona shirt before he reappeared on Wednesday night. The playmaker from La Mancha had been missed.

At times, his importance can be overlooked because of the heavyweights in front of him in the Barcelona side.

When you have record man Lionel Messi flanked by Neymar and new signing Luis Suarez, it's easy to forget the contribution of Iniesta, who has been part of the furniture at Camp Nou since making his first-team debut in 2002.

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It's true that Iniesta hasn't found things easy going under Luis Enrique this season. That's partly because he doesn't seem to have found his place in the new Barcelona setup yet. 

The way that Iniesta plays is perfect for the possession game we've seen for many years at the club.

This season, there has been a shift, with the emphasis moving from the engine room to the front three.

That means Barcelona are encouraged to get the ball forward quickly, meaning Iniesta doesn't get as much time to control the game.

Barcelona are yet to settle into a real rhythm, but whatever Enrique's tactics are, Iniesta has the skill to adapt to them.

While the Spaniard would prefer to pull the strings at his own pace, his passing and movement is good enough to play a transition role for the club.

Together with Ivan Rakitic, he dominated the Copa del Rey round-of-32 first-leg clash against Huesca, scoring a goal and assisting another in the 4-0 win.

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Funnily enough, although Iniesta's wonderful strike emphasised his return, goalscoring is not one of his strong suits.

In fact, he's never scored more than 10 goals in one season.

However, in this new Barcelona team, it appears as though he'll be playing further up the pitch, which means his productivity might increase.

His strike from the edge of the box was reminiscent of his famous Champions League semi-final goal against Chelsea back in the 2008-09 season.

Of course, that was a far better strike because of the immense pressure of both the situation and the better defensive ability of his opposition. Against Huesca, Iniesta seemed to have all the time in the world as he prepared to shoot.

Enrique now faces a tough decision about whether to bring Iniesta back into the side. Barcelona face Espanyol at Camp Nou on Sunday night, before hosting Paris Saint-Germain at the same venue on Wednesday.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

The former game may come too soon, given the likes of Xavi and Sergio Busquets will be fresh after being rested for the cup clash.

Enrique may also not want to disturb what has been a winning combination in recent weeks, even if the performances haven't been overly spectacular.

But players like Iniesta excel in big games, and it would not be a surprise if he was brought back in for the vital Champions League clash with PSG.

If Barcelona win that game, they will progress to the next stage as group winners, rather than runners-up. We can expect to see Enrique deploy what he thinks his strongest team is for that match, and Iniesta is a solid bet to be running out that night.