Andres Iniesta's Vissel Kobe Fire Manager After Poor J-League Start
News 18Andres Iniesta’s Japanese team Vissel Kobe have fired manager Atsuhiro Miura after a seven-game winless start to the new J-League season. Miura led Vissel to a third-place finish in last season’s J-League and to the semi-finals of the 2020 AFC Champions League but he has failed to win a trophy for the big-spending club. “I’ve been involved in the big changes that have taken place at Vissel since 2018 and I’m deeply grateful that I’ve been able to fight alongside the club and its fans.” Iniesta joined Vissel in 2018 after making more than 600 appearances for Barcelona, and played alongside former Spain team-mate David Villa and German World Cup-winner Lukas Podolski in Kobe. Iniesta last week helped Vissel qualify for next month’s group stages of the AFC Champions League with a 4-3 playoff victory over Australia’s Melbourne Victory.