Lord Bendtner works in mysterious ways.
If you’re looking for some interesting reading this weekend, you could do a lot worse than Sid Lowe’s interview with Javier Mascherano in The Guardian.
It’s worth reading for this opening line alone: “Javier Mascherano has a confession to make: Nicklas Bendtner changed his life.”
That’s right, the Barcelona midfielder turned defender has pinpointed a tackle in a match between the La Liga giants and Arsenal as being the key moment in his career.
Barca were leading 4-3 on aggregate in the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie back in 2011, and the game had entered the 90th minute.
Nicklas Bendtner was put through one-on-one with Victor Valdes, with the goal at his mercy, when Mascherano made a dramatic last ditch tackle, dispossessing the then Arsenal striker.
According to Mascherano: “That tackle marked a before and after.”
Barcelona would go on to win that season’s Champions League, and the Argentine credits that moment with turning around his career with the Catalan giants, having struggled to fit in during his first few months.
“Honestly, after five, six months I thought it was unlikely I’d be here long,” the former Liverpool midfielder said.
“My characteristics seemed to go against everything Barcelona stood for. That moment marked me. If Bendtner had controlled the ball and gone the other way, he’d have got away from me and … uffff! … I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
“But it happened the way it happened and we ended up winning that Champions League. Things worked out well.”
Mascherano hasn’t looked back since that moment, and has, to date, won 13 major titles with Barcelona. As for Bendtner…
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