None other than the great octopus, Sergio Busquets. A man highly valued by Pep and Del Bosque. The best player without the ball.

Busquets is what happened the best to Barça, he is the heart of Barça. More important than any player imo...

^ More important than Messi? :P

You can replace Busquets, but you won't find another Messi in this world.

Messi who ? :D no Messi is more important, but few can see why Busquets is the best at his role.

A wise man once told me, it's not about who is on the ball, but who is off it. It's actually pretty cool that your post concentrates on this aspect, Mastertice1.

Messi can't be replaced and neither can Busquets IMO. Some articles have written in the past how Sir Alex and Bayern primary scheme(last year) against Barca has been to disrupt Busquets. His positioning and ability to always make the correct decision with or without the ball is second to none. It's unfortunate you truly have to dissect the game to understand how valuable he really is.

Busquets, to me, is a player meant for the tiki-taka DM role. He doesn't have the strength, physicality, or the aggression to be a proper DM in another team, but he has the perfect attributes for Barcelona's system. I really don't see Busquets being able to apply his talents better in another team. His positioning, passing, and teamplay is perfect for recovering possession when the ball gets in behind Xavi and Iniesta, and enough for him to shield Pique and (what used to be) Puyol from counter-attacks.

@Mastertice

Close. Bayern's game was to disrupt the flow of the ball to Messi, which meant to cover Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets. But obviously, Xavi and Iniesta are a much bigger threat than Busquets, so if you have those two marked, there is no need for marking Busquets. With Schweinsteiger and Martinez on Xavi and Iniesta, Busquets had no one to pass to, and was forced to give it back to Pique.

There is, however, one huge problem with Busquets' role, and that is the massive amounts of space behind him. I think that since Guardiola left, no one has been able to fix that, and Puyol's absence makes it worse. It's not Busquets' fault, because he plays where he's supposed to play, but the space between the CB's and Busquets is one of the biggest flaws in Barcelona's system. That, and the space left behind when the wing backs charge up, as well as the lack of height and strength in Barcelona players, is what Bayern took complete advantage of.

Well, Del Bosque doesnt share your point of view.

Iniesta has improved his technique, he is the motor of Barcelona. He is stronger than ever.