The first match without Iniesta in 5 years

This Friday 7th July is a special one for Vissel Kobe. It will be the first match in which Andres Iniesta will not be part of the team, after leaving the club earlier this month.

It is a special match, as it does not feature the player who put the club's name on the world stage, and who helped improve the Japanese club's infrastructure.

BeSoccer Pro has looked in depth at the data of Vissel Kobe since the Spaniard arrived in Japan in July 2018. Five years in which the Japanese club has played a total of 230 matches.

Of these, Iniesta, who has been hampered by physical problems in recent years, has played 135, or 58.6% of the games played for Vissel Kobe.

With the man from La Mancha on the pitch, Vissel Kobe have won 41, drawn 28 and lost 56. In other words, they have won 37.7%, lost 41.4% and drawn 20.7%.

Curiously, the record without Andres Iniesta has been better. When the man from La Mancha has been absent, the Japanese side have won 47.3% and only lost 30.5%.

If there is one thing that has distinguished Andres Iniesta throughout his career, it is that he has been more of an assist man than a goalscorer. In fact, this is attested to by his figures at Barcelona, where he almost doubled the number of assists (103) to goals (57).

However, something changed in Japan. Iniesta, over the years, became more of a goalscorer than ever and in his time at Vissel Kobe, he has scored as many goals (26) as he has assists (26).​