Iniesta happy to secure home second leg

Andres Iniesta expressed the importance of Barcelona securing home advantage in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

Luis Enrique’s side secured their progress as winners of Group F with a 3-1 over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, ensuring they will face one of the group runners-up in the knockout stages.

As per UEFA rules, all pool winners are drawn away from home in the opening leg, something which Iniesta believes will work to Barca’s advantage when they return to Camp Nou for the second half of the tie.

“I really do prefer the second leg at home,” he told the club’s official website.

“I know that there are teams who will go away for the return game and get a result, but I prefer to play that second match at home, with the fans helping us get through.”

Iniesta has recently been restored to the starting XI after recovering from a calf injury, and the midfielder believes he is gradually getting back into top gear.

“I’ve been off for a while and now I just have to keep feeling better and better and getting the rhythm back into my game so that I can move forward,” he said.

“I don’t know what stage the side is at, but if we want to fight for every title, we have to continue to grow as a team.

“We are on a good run of results and we are improving our performances.

“That’s what we work for in training and that’s why we keep working to prepare for the next challenge.”