Barcelona star Andres Iniesta so easily could be playing in a Real Madrid shirt. Sport says the turning point was in 1996 when Iniesta was 12 years of age and had received an offer to join the Real Madrid juniors.

The problem for his parents was that the apartment that housed the club's young players was situated in a rough neighbourhood - much to Mr and Mrs Iniesta's concern.

Intervention by a Barcelona representative, who encouraged the Iniestas to check out Barca's Masia training HQ, was enough for them to commit Andres to Real's greatest rivals.