One Barcelona legend has revealed his “bittersweet” recollections of the 2006 Champions League last win.
Beating Arsenal 2-1 within the 2006 Champions League last, Barcelona secured their first trophy on the continent since 1992. That win additionally heralded the beginning of a string of Champions League wins, with the Blaugrana selecting up 4 in a decade betwen 2005/06 and 2014/15.
Frank Rijkaard’s staff seemed markedly totally different to the one which Pep Guardiola achieved greatness with a couple of years later, nevertheless, with loads of future key people beginning on the bench or overlooked altogether.
Barcelona legend displays on “bittersweet” Champions League last
Barcelona gamers have a good time the win (Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
With Ronaldinho nonetheless on the peak of his powers and Lionel Messi nonetheless creating, Barcelona began towards Arsenal with their conventional 4-3-3, although the midfield did not embody both of Andres Iniesta or Xavi . As a substitute, each have been stored on the bench as Deco, Mark van Bommel and Edmilson took their locations on the Stade de France pitch.
An damage to Edmilson meant that Iniesta entered the sport at the beginning of the second half, however Xavi did not function in any respect. For Iniesta, who was 23 on the time and had performed 48 video games in 2005/06 previous to the ultimate, lacking out on a spot within the beginning XI damage.
Iniesta towards Arsenal in 2006 (Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
“We gained La Liga after six years in 2004/05, then the Champions League in 2006, though I’ve bittersweet recollections of that last towards Arsenal in Paris,” Iniesta completely tells FourFourTwo .
“The precedence was to win the Champions League, however being on the bench damage that night time as a result of, for my part, it wasn’t truthful – even when in soccer, the sense of equity may be very subjective.
“After I came upon that I wouldn’t be beginning, although, I didn’t let it convey me down. That’s by no means been my mentality. At that second, all I thought of was being prepared when Frank Rijkaard determined to convey me on, and to assist win the trophy, which I did, after we got here from a objective right down to win. We laid the foundations for a profitable Barca.”
Iniesta, Messi and Xavi accomplished the Ballon d’Or prime three in 2010 (Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
Together with Xavi and Messi, who had missed out on a spot within the last squad due to an absence of health as a result of an earlier-sustained damage, Iniesta would show essential to Barcelona’s success within the coming years.
Certainly, the trio completed within the prime three of the Ballon d’Or for 2010, with their performances in Barcelona’s 2008/09 treble-winning season rightly incomes the accolades and plaudits they deserved.
