Maxi Lopez: Unforgettable 2006 Champions League celebration, we put champagne into the ocean

Hupu, August 19th, Barcelona is one of the 14 teams Maxi Lopez has played for in his career, and his career ends in 2021. The Argentine striker moved from Riverbed to Barcelona in early 2005 for €6 million. He has made only 19 appearances and scored two goals in two seasons for Barcelona, but he can proudly claim to be part of the roster that won the club's second Champions League trophy in 2006.

It was a grand Champions League final. Against Arsenal, Beletti scored an unforgettable goal. In the end, Barcelona reversed 2-1 and won. Beletti is now the head coach of Barcelona Athletics. Maxi Lopez played very little in that Champions League: he played 26 minutes in the first leg of the quarterfinals against Chelsea, 4 minutes in the second leg of Stamford Bridge, and 1 minute in the first leg of the semi-finals against Milan in San Siro, because then coach Rijkaard rarely gave him a chance.

In an interview with PostUnited, Maxi Lopez revealed that the celebration after the championship was very popular. "After winning the Champions League, we created an ocean of champagne. We started celebrating in Paris and then moved to other cities, which was incredible and unforgettable for a lifetime," said Lopez.

Maxi Lopez also talked about his friendship with Messi, who had made his mark at the time but missed the Paris final due to an injury against Chelsea. "At that time, I lived in Barcelona with three childhood friends. Messi and I had a good relationship, stayed together often, barbecue parties, and played PlayStation together." He also mentioned another Barcelona superstar, Neymar, who praised: "He was already phenomenal when Santos was 17 years old. He was playing with his opponents when he wanted to do whatever he wanted, and you can't stop him..."

When talking about coaching, Maxi Lopez mentioned Pellegrini, who coached Maxi at the Riverbed in the early 21st century. "He would do an hour of pre-game analysis sessions, and you didn't know if you would fall asleep or not. He was very smart," Maxi recalled. Pellegrini has also coached Real Madrid, and now he coaches Real Betis.