Aleksandr Hleb drank alcohol on Barcelona bench, ex-team-mate claims, and nearly joined Benfica in 2010 | OneFootball

Aleksandr Hleb, once close to joining Benfica, was involved in an unusual moment at Barcelona while Pep Guardiola was head coach.

Albert Dalmau, a former Barcelona player who shared a dressing room with the Belarusian, said on the Montiliving podcast that during a 2009 summer tour, with Hleb days from leaving, he drank alcohol on the bench, concealing it in a Gatorade bottle.

Barcelona had signed Hleb from Arsenal for around 20 million euros in the summer of 2008.

In the summer of 2010 he was close to joining Benfica in the final days of the window, but talks fell through.

Despite high expectations, his impact never matched the level anticipated and his role was limited, particularly after departing Spain. He was loaned to Stuttgart, where he had previously played before moving to Arsenal, and did not shine, then to Birmingham and Wolfsburg.

Source: Glorioso 1904