Iniesta vows to get even better

Barcelona star Andres Iniesta has vowed to overcome his injury problems and bounce back stronger.

The man who killed off Chelsea's European dream with a last-minute cracker at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League semi-finals has had a stop-start season blighted by injuries.

He recovered in time for the Champions League final and played a crucial role to help Barca become European Champions.

In an interview with Sport, Iniesta explained: "It was very important for me to play in the Champions League final. I had the misfortune of picking up an injury a few weeks before but I managed to recover just in time,

"I didn't want to miss it for anything in the world and in the end, I managed to play, eventhough the injury was always there at the back of my mind. I wasn't in the best condition of my life but I was convinced I was going to be there [in Rome] and I had a burning desire to play, so I just tried to play as normally as I possibly could."

But the talented midfielder also knows that he needs to improve his physique to deal with the ever-growing demands of world football.

"There's no doubt that after this season, I have learned how to listen to my body, to the doctors and to the physios," he admitted.

"When you have a problem, it is important to know where it hurts and how it hurts. But I really wanted to play in the final even though I was in pain. I would have played even with a broken foot. I was not going to miss this final."

With rumours that Pep Guardiola is readying a bid for Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal to add to an already packed midfield, Iniesta has vowed to live up to the challenge.

"When you play more games, you become better, although it's true that you have more risk of injuries," he said. "But we will try to make sure that it does not happen to me again and I am going to take good care of myself.

"It's clear that I still have a lot of room for improvement because I'm only 25 years old. And that is my intention: to become even better and more complete each year and to win more titles to feel like a better player."