PSV’s Bergwijn will line up against Messi ten years after meeting him as a ten-year-old fan

PSV forward Steven Bergwijn is set to come up against Lionel Messi at the Nou Camp on Tuesday night, ten years after he posed for photos with the Barcelona ace as a ten-year-old.

In 2008 Bergwijn and his family made the trip to Catalonia to watch Barcelona beat Levante 5-1. They ended up staying in the same hotel as Frank Rijkaard’s squad.

Bergwijn was just ten when he met a 21-year-old Messi, who had just started setting the world alight with his talent. On Tuesday they will go head-to-head in the Champions League. 

Ten years later the PSV winger is set to line up against the Barcelona star at the Nou Camp

Bergwijn met a long-haired Messi in a computer room on that occasion, with the Argentinian dressed in his Barcelona tracksuit 

The next time the pair will be under very different circumstances, with the now 20-year-old looking to make a name for himself on the Barcelona pitch.

He has already played a significant role in PSV’s season, sealing their Champions League qualification with a vital goal against BATE Borisov in the play-off round. 

Bergwijn and his brother stayed in the same hotel as Barcelona players after Levante match

The brothers got photos with a 21-year-old Messi who was at the start of an incredible decade

On Tuesday the pair will go head-to-head in the Champions League group stages

‘I still remember the 5-1 against Levante, That was the team of Frank Rijkaard with Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Eto’o and of course Messi who had just broken through,’ Bergwijn reflected on his past visit.

‘We slept in the same hotel as the players. There was a computer room where my brother and I played games and the players went on the internet.

‘We talked with them and we took photos with them. Also with Messi. It’s very special that a decade later, I am likely to be on the pitch with him.’

Barcelona host PSV in the first Champions League match of Group B, at the slightly earlier time of 17:55 BST.