There are some Barcelona teams that fans will never forget.
The 2010/11 side is one of them.
Pep Guardiola had built a team around players who seemed to understand each other almost without speaking. Lionel Messi was at the centre of the attack, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta controlled the midfield, while Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué and others helped create one of the most admired teams in modern football.
Barcelona won La Liga and the Champions League that season. They also finished the campaign with 96 points in the league and beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Champions League final at Wembley.
More than 15 years later, the players from that famous Barcelona 2011 squad have taken very different paths.
Some have retired. Some have moved into coaching, while others have taken completely different directions away from the pitch.
For this edition of Where Are They Now?, the focus is on one of the greatest midfielders Barcelona has ever produced: Andrés Iniesta.
Andrés Iniesta: From La Masia to Barcelona legend
Iniesta’s story with Barcelona started long before the famous 2011 season.
He joined La Masia in 1996 at the age of 12 after leaving his hometown club, Albacete. Six years later, he made his Barcelona first-team debut under Louis van Gaal.
It did not take long for Iniesta to become an important part of the team.
Playing alongside Xavi and later Busquets, he became one of the main figures in Barcelona’s midfield. His close control, passing, movement and ability to find space made him a perfect fit for Guardiola’s football.
By the time the 2010/11 season arrived, Iniesta was already an established Barcelona star.
And that season would become another special chapter in his career.
Iniesta and the 2011 Barcelona champions
The 2010/11 Barcelona squad contained some of the biggest names in the club’s history.
Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol, Piqué, Dani Alves, David Villa, Javier Mascherano and Pedro were among the key players in a team that dominated Spanish and European football.
Barcelona won the league and Champions League that season.
The Champions League campaign was particularly memorable. Barça finished top of their group before getting past Arsenal in the round of 16, Shakhtar Donetsk in the quarter-finals and Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Then came Manchester United at Wembley.
Barcelona won 3-1, with Pedro, Messi and David Villa scoring the goals.
Iniesta did not score in the final, but he was central to the way Barcelona controlled the game. His ability to receive the ball under pressure and keep the midfield moving was a big part of what made that team so difficult to play against.
The 2010/11 season was also the third time Iniesta had won the Champions League with Barcelona.
It would not be his last.
The final years at Barcelona
Iniesta stayed at Barcelona for several more years after the 2011 triumph.
He continued to win major trophies and remained one of the club’s most trusted players. His Barcelona career eventually ended in 2018 after 16 seasons with the first team.
By then, he had made 674 appearances for Barcelona and won 32 trophies, including nine La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies, according to the club FC Barcelona
His final Barcelona years also gave fans some unforgettable moments.
The 2015 Champions League triumph completed another historic European campaign, while Iniesta continued to play a major role in midfield despite the changes around him.
Eventually, however, the time came to leave Camp Nou.
What happened after Barcelona?
In 2018, Iniesta left Barcelona and joined Japanese club Vissel Kobe.
It was a major change.
For the first time in his senior career, Iniesta was playing outside Spain and away from the club where he had spent most of his life.
He spent five seasons in Japan and won the J1 League title with Vissel Kobe in 2023.
After leaving Japan, Iniesta moved to the United Arab Emirates and joined Emirates Club for the 2023/24 season.
It was the final chapter of his playing career.
Iniesta announced his retirement from professional football on October 8, 2024, bringing an end to a playing career that had lasted more than two decades.
Where is Iniesta now?
This is where Iniesta’s story gets interesting.
He is no longer part of a current team as a player.
Instead, Iniesta has started a new career in football.
In June 2026, he joined Gulf United FC in Dubai as the club’s head coach. The UAE First Division side gave Iniesta his first opportunity to work as a senior coach.
So, when fans search for Iniesta’s current team in 2026, the answer is Gulf United – but this time, he is on the touchline rather than in the midfield.
Iniesta has obtained his coaching A Licence and is working towards his Pro Licence. His first coaching project is also closely connected to something he has always valued: developing young players.
That makes the move a natural next step in some ways.
The player who once developed his own game at La Masia is now trying to help another generation of young footballers improve.
Iniesta is starting again
There is something quite interesting about seeing Iniesta begin his coaching career.
As a player, he spent years at the top of world football. He won everything with Barcelona and Spain, including the 2010 World Cup with Spain.
But coaching is different.
Iniesta himself has spoken about the need to learn and improve alongside his staff and players. His first coaching job is therefore not about arriving with all the answers. It is about learning a new side of the game.
And perhaps that is why his new role is worth following.
The same player who spent years studying the game from the middle of the pitch now has to understand it from the touchline.
A look back at the 2011 Barcelona squad
When people talk about the Barcelona 2011 squad, it is easy to remember only the biggest names.
But that team was much deeper than Messi, Xavi and Iniesta.
The 2010/11 squad included players such as Víctor Valdés, Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal, Sergio Busquets, Seydou Keita, Javier Mascherano, Pedro, David Villa, Bojan Krkić, Adriano and others. The FC Barcelona Players Association’s historical records list the players registered around that season.
Together, they formed one of the most memorable teams in Barcelona history.
Iniesta was one of the players who gave that side its identity.
Andrés Iniesta’s career at a glance
- Barcelona: 2002–2018
- Barcelona appearances: 674
- Barcelona trophies: 32
- La Liga titles: 9
- Champions League titles: 4
- Vissel Kobe: 2018–2023
- Emirates Club: 2023–2024
- Retired as a player: October 2024
- Current role: Head coach of Gulf United FC
- Current club: Gulf United FC, Dubai
- Coaching career: Started in 2026
Andrés Iniesta may have left Barcelona years ago, but his place among the club’s legends remains firmly established.
The 2011 champions are slowly becoming part of football history. For Iniesta, however, the story has moved on.
This time, he is writing it from the touchline.
