GARY LINEKER was shocked when he joined Barcelona and came upon the staff would drink wine pre-match.
The previous England striker performed for the Catalan giants from 1986 to 1989.
Gary Lineker was allowed to drink wine simply hours earlier than a giant recreation at BarcelonaCredit score: Getty
And when Lineker arrived from Everton, he was left surprised by the Spanish consuming tradition.
The 62-year-old revealed that gamers would sit on tables of 4 and end a bottle of wine the night time earlier than and once more within the afternoon with lunch previous to going out on the Nou Camp.
He advised the Relaxation is Soccer podcast: “I keep in mind we went down, me and Mark Hughes, and we sat on the desk, saying: ‘There’s wine on the desk that’s a bit bizarre’.
“It was the identical routine each match. There was a salad placed on the desk, one of many gamers would combine that salad with olive oil, vinegar and salt.
“Then we’d get our pre-match meal and also you’d end off the bottle between the 4 of you.
“Hughes and myself simply thought ‘think about this at residence’.
“However the reasoning for it’s that you just’d have a glass-and-a-half every, you then’d have a two or three hour siesta as a result of in these days the earliest you’d play can be 5 o’clock or later.
“We simply couldn’t consider it. It could’t nonetheless be a factor now, I don’t think about it’s.”
Alan Shearer then joked: “I’d think about half of my Newcastle staff having a glass of wine with a pre-match meal – there’s no manner they’re staying at one glass.
“Truthfully, half the time they might have been p***ed.”
Micah Richards additionally chimed to say he was doing comparable throughout his spell with Fiorentina.
He was with the Italian aspect from 2014 to 2015 and revealed that the entire staff would go for a glass of wine within the afternoon following a coaching session with the gamers’ Wags even allowed to affix them.
And the night time earlier than a match he additionally allowed to have a sip of booze.
Richards mentioned: “The approach to life is totally totally different to what we’re used to and it opened up my eyes.
“Individuals all ask me: ‘Why are you at all times so completely satisfied?’ Now I understand how to take pleasure in life to the max.”
The ex-Manchester Metropolis defender mentioned: “I don’t inform lies, if I used to be on the bench I used to be having a bottle to myself.”
Gary Lineker performed for Barcelona for 3 seasonsCredit score: Getty