BEST BAR NONE: Andres Iniesta’s grandfather owns a bar in his home town that only opens when the Spain legend is playing

By Adrian Addison in Fuentealbilla

MATCH DAYS were sacred at Lujan's Bar in Fuentealbilla, a tiny rural town in the middle of Spain's wine growing country.

Whenever Barca played, the faithful would gather in here to watch the game on the big screen and cheer on one very special player indeed.

For Andres Lujan, owner of the bar, is Andres Iniesta's grandfather.

Iniesta cooed from his cot in here as a baby, and his dad dropped a football at his son's feet just about the same day he took his first steps as a toddler.

If anyone wanted to know where young Andres was, he was easy to find... he was outside caressing a ball with his feet. Always.

He didn't simply run with the ball, he slipped and he glided.

He would eat in the bar, he'd sit at one of the tables and do his homework after school.

And now every last inch of the place is covered in old football shirts, boots and memorabilia and splattered in cuttings from magazines and newspapers - most of them found in the local newsagent's stall.

"We bought it all when it arrived in the kiosk, and there was a lot," señor Lujan told The Sun, holding a hand up almost to his chin.

"And when it got that high, I didn't know what to do with it all.

"So, one day I decided to put it all in the bar."

Lujan's Bar opened in 1975 but as a place to go grab a quick beer, it has actually been closed for years - it only opens these days when Iniesta plays - which these days are for Vissel Kobe in the Japanese league

As, though the majority of the 2,000 or so people who live here are Real Madrid fans, it's also the town's official Barca supporters' club.

It's a good spot to watch a Spain game too.

It's too far for me and my wife to go see him there. We're too old. But maybe we will. Who knows?

Andres Lujan, His Grandfather

And surely seismic activity occurred right here one summer's day in 2010 during the 116th minute of the World Cup Final when Iniesta scored the winning goal for Spain - there wasn't enough room inside seeing as the whole town was watching.

The whole of Spain was watching.

A statue of the World Cup stands opposite the bar, sealing the moment forever in bronze.

That's opposite another statue of the man himself kicking the bronze ball towards the Barca themed house on Andres Iniesta Street.

This is where he stays when he visits with his wife and kids.

There are lines of shirts around Lujan's Bar - second division team Albacete Balompie, Barcelona, Spain - marking a line along the journey from his cot to that trophy.

It actually all started when he played for Lujan's Bar, a pub team.

His dad then saw an ad in the paper, Albacete wanted players for its youth team so he went for a trial.

"He was eight years old when we started taking him to Albacete," his grandad told The Sun.

Albacete is a 45-minute or so drive each way, a trip the family made three afternoons a week to take him to training.

Even the local school was flexible enough to help him combine football with his studies.

"It seemed that he always had the ability to reach where he did," Andres Lujan said.

"He had form at Albacete and he was the boss at his level. The same happened at Barcelona.

"He went step by step climbing up until he got where he wanted, where he belonged."

He went to Barca's famed La Masia at 12.

And, at a tearful press conference 22 years later to announce he was to leave, Iniesta explained how much of a wrench it had been as he sat in a small car headed five hours north.

"It was emotional but it was terrible," he laughed.

"Then I was alone here. And at 12, it's not easy to separate yourself from your family, but it was worth so much sacrifice.

"When someone wants something they have to make this kind of sacrifice."

Everything changed again at the end of the season after Iniesta decided he was no longer to play for Barca and Spain.

He's not even on the same continent as his grandpa anymore.

He plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan. Kobe is 7000 miles away and seven hours ahead of Fuentealbilla.

The village has yet to settle into the match routine and, anyway, Iniesta has only played a couple of games for his new team.

It will take at least a year to know if his grandson is happy in Japan, says señor Lujan, but he could also be talking for the people of Fuentealbilla.

J-league games are, of course, available via the magic of satellite but... it's just not the same, somehow.

Señor Lujan has no plans to visit.

"They tell me it's very far," he said.

"It's too far for me and my wife to go see him there. We're too old. But maybe we will. Who knows?

"Anyway. He likes to come back here because it is a very quiet town, he has his family and friends here and he has a great time."

THE SUN Adrian Addison, Spain. Published: 10 Sep 2018