Wesley Sneijder says ‘frustrating’ player who left Barcelona in 2023 was a nasty guy to play against | OneFootball

The midfield trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets made up one of the most successful midfield partnerships in the history of FC Barcelona. The three perfectly complemented one another, and the highly distinct style of play that Pep Guardiola adopted with his legendary Blaugrana team would not have been possible without these three legends.

Sergio Busquets was the youngest of the three, and also the latest to leave Barcelona. It has been only slightly more than one year since he left the Catalan club, to rejoin Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in the summer of 2023, and the Blaugranes have already missed him quite a lot.

Barcelona fans generally have mostly good memories of the midfielder who was the team’s starting pivot for more than a decade. However, some of the opponents he faced in his career do not share the same opinion of him.

This is certainly the case with the Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, who faced Busquets several times in his career, both with Inter Milan and his Dutch national team.

As SPORT has reported, the former midfielder launched a scathing attack on the former Barcelona pivot while talking to Ziggo Sport. The former Real Madrid player did not have anything good to say about Busquets and labeled him as a ‘frustrating’ player:

“Busquets was an extremely frustrating player, always passing the ball to others but never able to receive it himself… As soon as he took a hit, he would start crying. He was a total crybaby. I literally fought with him in every game. At one point, I told him, ‘I’ll see you in Ibiza this summer, and then we’ll talk again.'”

Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

The Dutchman also recalled one particular instance that has been one of the more memorable nights in the history of the UEFA Champions League:

“In 2010, we beat Barcelona 3-1 at home, then we had to go to Camp Nou. Eight minutes had passed, Motta hit him, and Busquets started rolling on the ground while looking through his hands to see if Motta had received a red card. Then he got back up and was fine, the crybaby. A nasty guy to play against.”

There is no doubt that Busquets was one of the most skilled midfielders of his generation, and it was often quite frustrating for opposing players to face him due to his ability to seamlessly resist the press.

However, one can understand Sneijder’s assessment of him, as the two played against each other multiple times and never shared a dressing room.