One Barcelona legend has revealed his “bittersweet” memories of the 2006 Champions League final win.
Beating Arsenal 2-1 in the 2006 Champions League final, Barcelona secured their first trophy on the continent since 1992. That win also heralded the start of a string of Champions League wins, with the Blaugrana picking up four in a decade betwen 2005/06 and 2014/15.
Frank Rijkaard’s team looked markedly different to the one that Pep Guardiola achieved greatness with a few years later, however, with plenty of future key individuals starting on the bench or left out altogether.
Barcelona legend reflects on “bittersweet” Champions League final
With Ronaldinho still at the height of his powers and Lionel Messi still developing, Barcelona started against Arsenal with their traditional 4-3-3, though the midfield didn’t include either of Andres Iniesta or Xavi. Instead, both were kept on the bench as Deco, Mark van Bommel and Edmilson took their places on the Stade de France pitch.
An injury to Edmilson meant that Iniesta entered the game at the start of the second half, but Xavi didn’t feature at all. For Iniesta, who was 23 at the time and had played 48 games in 2005/06 prior to the final, missing out on a spot in the starting XI hurt.
“We won La Liga after six years in 2004/05, then the Champions League in 2006, although I have bittersweet memories of that final against Arsenal in Paris,” Iniesta exclusively tells FourFourTwo.
“The priority was to win the Champions League, but being on the bench hurt that night because, in my view, it wasn’t fair – even if in football, the sense of fairness is very subjective.
“When I found out that I wouldn’t be starting, though, I didn’t let it bring me down. That’s never been my mentality. At that moment, all I thought about was being ready when Frank Rijkaard decided to bring me on, and to help win the trophy, which I did, when we came from a goal down to win. We laid the foundations for a successful Barca.”
Along with Xavi and Messi, who had missed out on a spot in the final squad because of a lack of fitness due to an earlier-sustained injury, Iniesta would prove crucial to Barcelona’s success in the coming years.
Indeed, the trio finished in the top three of the Ballon d’Or for 2010, with their performances in Barcelona’s 2008/09 treble-winning season rightly earning the accolades and plaudits they deserved.
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