The midfielder said there was a chance the Argentine could have placed the spot-kick instead of Luis Suarez and admitted he wasn’t expecting a surprise routine.
Andres Iniesta says Lionel Messi may have meant his penalty kick for Neymar rather than Luis Suarez in Barcelona’s 6-1 win over Celta Vigo.
Messi gave the ball to his teammate to score a hat-trick, rather than going for the goal himself, as the pair recreated Johan Cruyff’s famous strike with Jesper Olsen for Ajax back in December 1982.
However, Iniesta admitted the move took him by surprise and backed Neymar’s claim that Argentina may have picked the wrong team-mate.
“My reaction with the penalty was one of surprise because of the way they executed it, but I’m happy it’s a goal,” he told Barcelona’s official website, and predicted.
“You can take them like that too.
“Maybe the game was for Neymar [rather than Suarez].
“Personally, I haven’t seen them work in training, but I’m sure it was planned.”
Some critics have described the Messi and Suarez routine as distasteful, but Iniesta says Barcelona will never disrespect an opponent.
“We are the first ones to try to respect our opponents and the way they play,” he added.
“I don’t think that the penalty was disrespectful.”