How Henrik Larsson’s 2006 Champions League final cameo almost didn’t occur
Henrik Larsson has printed how an 18-year-old Lionel Messi almost averted his game-changing efficiency for Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final from taking place.
Barca had been because of face Arsenal in the showpiece tournament in Paris, their first in the contest since successful the European Cup, because it used to be then identified, 14 years previous in 1992.
Larsson’s have an effect on off the bench is known, getting into the sport with part an hour to head however along with his group trailing 1-0 to the Gunners, who had been down to ten avid gamers.
The Swede’s clever contact quickly laid at the Barcelona equaliser for Samuel Eto’o, whilst he then arrange what proved to be the winner for Juliano Belletti 4 mins after that.
But nursing an harm in the weeks previously and a long way from assured a spot in the matchday squad of 18 avid gamers, issues will have simply been so other.
“I was hoping to make the squad [but] I knew that we had one player too many travelling to Paris,” Larsson defined in the most recent episode of James Richardson’s Kings of Europe podcast.
“Two or three weeks before, I got a feeling in my hamstring, so I was out for a while. At the same time, Messi also gets a feeling in his hamstring.”
In the top, it could come all the way down to who educated higher, Larsson or Messi.
He endured: “We travelled two days before the game and got some training sessions there. [Staff] just felt [I] trained good, finished good after the practice when we did the finishing drill. We can’t look past you. Even if I don’t know, it’s just between me and Leo in the stands and they opted for me [in the squad]. That day, that was a wise decision.”
That final used to be Larsson’s ultimate recreation for Barcelona to finish a memorable two-year spell on the membership, however he admitted their unique technique to signal him after leaving Celtic used to be ‘a little bit bad timing’, even supposing a deal used to be briefly wrapped up in a fairly unconventional means – the participant left his spouse and agent to hammer out the main points because he used to be preoccupied at Euro 2004.
“[Sweden] were playing against Holland in the knockout stages of Euro 2004,” he recalled. “[Barcelona] wanted me to come. My wife called me while we were at the Euros and said, ‘Barcelona are interested in your services’, and I said, ‘Yeah, they have to wait’.
“My wife just chuckled and said, ‘They’re not going to wait for you’. Then I said, ‘Yeah, but then you have to go over with my agent and get the contract in order and I will talk with them as soon as we are ready [after] the Euros’, because I wanted to stay focused.”
Barca introduced the deal to signal Larsson 4 days after Sweden’s Euro 2004 go out.
“Obviously, coming to the club, I’d been watching Barcelona since I was a young boy,” he mentioned.
“I remember growing up and watching the ‘Dream Team’ as well with the players like [Michael] Laudrup, [Ronald] Koeman, Romario, [Hristo] Stoichkov. [Pep] Guardiola was there as well, and that was just amazing to watch. Then, to go there myself, I had to pinch myself a little bit.”
LISTEN NOW
Listen to the Henrik Larsson interview in complete in the most recent episode of ‘James Richardson’s Kings of Europe’ – the most recent podcast from BT Sport Pods out as of late throughout primary podcast platforms.
Every Monday, journalist James Richardson interviews a Champions League winner from the previous 30 years, offering distinctive insights into some of the most important moments in European soccer historical past: btsport.com/pods