5 top players launched by Louis Van Gaal

#3 Andres Iniesta

Louis Van Gaal handed Andres Iniesta his Barcelona debut back in 2002/03

Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta won literally everything in his storied career – 9 La Liga titles and 4 UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona, and 2 European Championships and one World Cup with Spain – and will probably go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

But few people might remember that it was Van Gaal who initially gave him his first-team chance at the Nou Camp. Van Gaal had two stints as Barcelona manager; the first, between 1997 and 2000, saw him win 2 La Liga titles, but the second, between July 2002 and January 2003 was far less successful, as he infamously fell out with star player Rivaldo and left the club hovering just 3 points above the relegation area.

Still, his introduction of Iniesta as a first team player marks one of the few successes of that second reign. Just 18 at the time, Iniesta – known as a painfully shy youngster from his time at Barca’s La Masia academy – was handed his initial 6 first team appearances by the Dutchman before he was relieved of his post in January 2003.

The following season, Iniesta appeared in 37 of Barca’s 38 league games as they won the title, and the rest is essentially history – he formed a famous midfield partnership with fellow La Masia graduate Xavi and ended up being the man who scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.

And despite playing his most famous games under Pep Guardiola, in a 2018 interview he named Van Gaal as “my most important manager” – showing the respect he had for the legendary Dutch boss.