Iniesta buoyed by Suarez availability

Andres Iniesta is relishing the prospect of Luis Suarez making his Barcelona debut in an eagerly-awaited El Clasico on Saturday.

Suarez is in contention to make his Barca bow against arch-rivals Real Madrid in La Liga after serving a four-month ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

The Uruguay striker has been left kicking his heels since his big-money move from Liverpool, but Barca playmaker Iniesta hopes the former Ajax man can hit the ground running.

“I’ve seen him a lot since he arrived. It’s true he’s going through a difficult situation, because he’s not playing, and not competing is the worst thing for a player,” the Spain international said.

“Fortunately, time passes and the moment for him to play has arrived. I think that’s great for him as it is for the rest of us, we hope from now on he can feel well and perform as he has always done.”

Lionel Messi could make yet more history on Saturday as he sits just one goal adrift of Telmo Zarra’s record of 251 goals in the Spanish top flight, but Iniesta is more concerned about ensuring Liga leaders Barca secure all three points.

“I don’t know how to classify this. We are going to play a very important and interesting football game, for our clubs, for the public,” he added/

“All these things are part of football, if Leo beats the record, we won’t be happy because the game is stopped or there is more or less clapping, we will be happy because it means we are closer to a victory that would extend our points difference over Real Madrid.

“The rest is debate, opinions, different points of view. In the end it’s a football game where we’ll try to do our best to win.”

Barca have dropped only two points from their first eight games in La Liga this season, but Real head into the game on the back of eight consecutive victories in all competitions.

And Iniesta knows there will be little to choose between the two sides.

“I don’t know what will finally happen. What they will do, what we will do. But it is always a battle, speaking about football,” he added.

“You always have to win in defence, in the midfield, and in attack, you have to be better than them in pretty much every aspect if you want to beat Real Madrid.”