Valverde on the club vs. country debate surrounding Andres Iniesta's fitness

Ernesto Valverde was constantly asked about Andres Iniesta on Friday. The midfielder will be in the squad for the game against Sevilla on Saturday, something the coach did not confirm, but he's still not 100 percent. 

And, despite that, he has been called up by Julen Lopetegui for Spain's two friendlies next week. "The communication with the national team? It is what it is. Lopetegui has a lot of confidence in Andres, [that’s why he called him up] -- he’s as optimistic as we are," Valverde said. 

However, the Txingurri added that "if Iniesta is not fit to play against Sevilla, the normal thing is for him to join up with the national team with a note from our medical team." 

In this sense, Valverde revealed that Iniesta "trained on Thursday but didn’t complete the session and he still doesn’t have the medical green light to return to action. We have to wait to see if he makes the squad. Everything else will be linked to if he can play on Saturday."

And on if Barça are over-reliant on Messi, he added: "It's the same as [with Lionel] Messi, he’s an extraordinary player. It’s normal that it tells when he doesn’t play. The presence of Andres -- or, in this case, the absence -- is always noticed. But we also have other players with good qualities that can do well for us."