Van Bommel, the villain bitter about Iniesta who intends to torment Xavi

Mark van Bommel's dream of playing for Barça lasted just over a year. The great emergence of an absolutely key figure for the Blaugrana, emerging from the ins and outs of La Masia, Andrés Iniesta, condemned him to leave the club in the summer of 2006, just after the official start of what was going to be his second season in the club. entity that, at the time, was also chaired by Joan Laporta. After the 0-3 defeat against Sevilla in the European Super Cup, he had to pack his bags to go to Bayern Munich, fearing that his presence in the team could jeopardize the continuity of the Fuentealbilla player, who was already He then predicted a more than splendid future for him.

This Tuesday, Van Bommel, Antwerp coach, will remember an experience that soured his attitude towards everything that smacked of Barça and, especially, towards Andrés Iniesta, whom he turned into his nemesis.. To such an extent that in the 2010 World Cup final, the same one that would promote the shy midfielder to Olympus with that goal that gave La Roja the title, he was kicked to death.. Such was his harassment that the young Barça player did not hesitate to trip him that could well have changed his glorious destiny.

Last season, Van Bommel ensured that Antwerp, 66 years later, reconquered the Belgian league. He has, in the technical office, the help of another former Barça player, Marc Overmars. Both now face a Barça driven by the latest great batch of La Masia, led by the very young Lamine Yamal. The team also has the overflow capacity of Alejandro Balde and the drive of Gavi, a player whom Xavi cannot leave out of the team.. This is what he confessed after the win over Betis last Saturday: “I find it difficult to take him off the field.”. It gives us a lot of character, a lot of soul. “He is the heart of the team and for me he is a fundamental footballer.”

Van Bommel knows very well the negative consequences of facing Barcelona in the Champions League. In 2009, he saw how a team in which Pep Guardiola made his debut on the bench only had half a half enough to give Bayern a resounding 4-0 victory. Curiously, the same result would fit a PSV in which the Dutchman made his debut as first coach during his visit to the Camp Nou in the group stage of the 2018-19 season. Leo Messi, with a hat trick, was his great scourge. Iniesta, a few months earlier, had already decided to leave Barcelona to embark on his adventure at Vissel Kobe.