Iniesta. But Modric is extremely good (underrated, I’d say), and their styles are different so it’s not an easy comparison anyways. Iniesta is a better dribbler, while Modric puts in more work defensively. Of course, that may just have to do with the fact that Iniesta plays more of a wide position while Modric plays more centrally. Wider midfielders generally have more dribbling opportunities and fewer defensive responsibilities. Iniesta plays more killer throughballs, but that may just reflect a difference in his teams’ tactics. Overall, it’s a difficult comparison, but I think it’d be hard to put Modric ahead of Iniesta, given all the clutch performances Iniesta has had. Of course, Modric is about to have a World Cup final where he could potentially be fantastic and clutch.
Both incredible players, and both very different. If I absolutely had to choose, I think I'd go with Iniesta for that extra bit of genius, even though Modric likely has a more complete game.
iniesta and this is not even comparision. modirc world cup 2018 is nothing compared to iniesta euro 2012 performance. i do agree modric was underrated back then but this year he is very overrated
Luca Modric now arguably ranks above Andres iniesta(at least in terms of legacy if not overall ability) When was the last time any player was voted best champions player player,best midfielder in Europe,the World Cup golden ball and FIFA world player...all in a single year? If he ends up winning the ballon dor (which he probably will)we are talking about (at least on paper)the most dominant season (accolades not performance wise) of all time Modric is now firmly in the discussion for all time great midfielders this is a fact not speculation @Ozora
you guys also vastly exaggerate when comparing iniestas dribbling ability to Modric Sure iniesta had a few more high profile dribbles in big ko games that might of given the perception that he was elite but as their who scored ratings show they were close In 2010/11 iniesta averaged 2.5 dribbles in la liga In 2009/10 Luca Modric averaged 2.2 dribbles in the pl https://www.whoscored.com/Players/9486/History/Andrés-Iniesta https://www.whoscored.com/Players/20874/History/Luka-Modric Modric is arguably the best European midfield general since Cruyff (a more versatile passer than xavi/scholes and also superior when it comes to overall technique)
his world cup perfromance is overrated. hazard is light years better but just croatia was lucky enough to go to the final. facing against denmark,russia and england,yet couldnt beat them in 90 minutes. worst world cup runner up so far and worst world cup golden ball madrid propaganda just do their work. overrating their players. im sure ronaldo would have won these awards if he had stayed at madrid
Iniesta by a fairly wide margin. I have watched Modric a lot in recent years in La Liga/CL and I think Modric is a very very good midfielder, without a doubt one of the best in his generation...but he is a bit overrated. When he won the best player of the year award this year, I felt extremely extremely pity for Pirlo/Xavi/Iniesta, especially having witnessed all of their prime. While Modric is indeed superb at holding possession under pressure and he is really an extremely versatile and modern midfielder, his passing and distribution, the way he dictated the tempo, his extreme intelligence in producing that “moment” to kill the game, is still nowhere near the level of let say “once in a generation” level midfielders like prime Pirlo/Xavi/Iniesta. Taking his recent World Cup performance for example, his performance while was great but nothing extradionary(vs Pirlo in 2006, Xavi/Iniesta in 2010). Especially during the Final, I expected more from him, but he really wasn’t there. Compare to the best of the best midfielders in the last 15 years, (Zidane 1998, Pirlo 2006 or Xavi/Iniesta 2010.....) he is a level below.
I think Modric does a better job covering the pitch and makes a larger contribution defensively. Overall though, I'd lean towards Iniesta because while both men have terrific ball control, I think Iniesta's vision was a bit better. And also his goalscoring instincts... Modric didn't score the type of goals that Iniesta scored in many big matches.
I don’t think you can really compare them since their roles are different, Iniesta is more of an attacker like Zidane, Muller and KDB whereas Modric is a controller as CM, like Xavi and Pirlo. So if we compare Modric to those players, then obviously he ranks below them. One comparison that I would be interested in is how to rank Modric, Fàbregas and David Silva.