Barcelona trio best ever, says Iniesta

BARCELONA midfielder Andres Iniesta has hailed the club’s attacking trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar as the best strike force he has ever played with.

Iniesta has won 22 trophies at Barca playing alongside the likes of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o.

But he believes the South American trio’s return of 117 goals this season puts them on another level.

“I have had the chance to play with the best strikers in the world at this club. At the moment to have these three players is something incomparable,” he said.

“For me all three are the number one, all three are still young and have spectacular potential.”

Iniesta has the chance to add a 23rd title and a third Copa del Rey to his honours list when Barca face Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final at the Camp Nou tonight.

Victory would seal the second leg of a potential treble for Luis Enrique’s men with the Champions League final against Juventus to come next weekend.

The Spanish star was part of the only previous Barca side to win the treble in the 2008/09 season and sees similarities between the two sides.

He said: “No two seasons are the same. But we know we are close to something very important that almost never happens. We want to take another step to win the two titles that are left.”

Meanwhile, assistant manager Paul Clement has announced he is leaving Real Madrid following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti.

It was widely expected Clement would follow the Italian out of the Bernabeu after his sacking on Monday and the Englishman took to Twitter yesterday to confirm his departure.

“It has been an honour to have worked with Carlo at the No.1 club in the world,” he wrote. “Thank you to all the Players, Staff and Fans. Hala Madrid.”

Clement worked with Ancelotti at Chelsea and Paris St Germain before the duo moved to the Spanish capital in 2013 and has recently been linked with the vacant manager’s positions at Derby and Sunderland.