Spain manager Robert Moreno has defended Sergio Busquets amid suggestions that the Barcelona midfielder has been far from his best lately.

The Barcelona midfielder has been one of the best midfielders of the past decade, but he was on the bench in the past two matches for the Catalans, coming on as a substitute both times. He played 90 minutes in Spain’s 1-1 draw with Norway, however.

Moreno was part of the Barcelona staff headed by Luis Enrique that won the treble with Busquets as the lone holding midfielder in 2015.

“I simply do not have the perception that Busquets is so far from his best version that we speak of. In the end, everything is relative and we have to speak in context,” Moreno said.

“What I do know is that Busi is still good at what he’s always been good at. That’s starting play and getting out of pressure where no one else could get out, and giving solutions for the team to switch play, and always becoming the first to press after losing the ball. For that you need a context. The context is that he has to have teammates to pass to, that the team attacks together, and that the team defends together. If we start to think that Busi has to be good in transitions of 80 meters running backwards, we are fooling ourselves. He’s not fast in long movements,” the manager said.

“Judging him on something that is not his capability is unfair. If the teams he’s a part of, Barcelona or us, get close to the identity that makes him strong, which is to have the ball, attack together, defend together, and let him apply that first wave of pressure... well, then we will have the best Busi that we had in that time and that Spain had as well. If we stray from that, he will suffer, it’s a matter of context.