Former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Javier Saviola ‘spends night in prison after being arrested for drink-driving’

JAVIER SAVIOLA reportedly spent a night in a police station after failing a breathalyser test in Andorra.

Local newspaper Altaveu claim that the former Barcelona striker was returning from a private party in the early hours of Monday morning.

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Reuters

Andorran police reportedly pulled him over for a routine check at 4.40am, where he tested positive with 1.10 grams of alcohol in his blood.

The legal limit in Andorra is 0.5.

Saviola, 42, was kept overnight and faces losing his driving licence for up to a year, according to the report.

The retired hitman was last employed as an assistant coach of Barca’s Under-19s.

Saviola was the most expensive teenager in the world when Barcelona signed the 1999 South American Footballer of the Year for £15million from River Plate at the age of 19 in 2001.

While in Argentina, he broke Diego Maradona’s record as the youngest player to finish a season as top goal scorer.

Initially, he formed a good partnership in attack at the Nou Camp with Patrick Kluivert.

And it looked like he would soon become the team’s focal point when Louis van Gaal sold Rivaldo.

However, the Dutchman was sacked in 2002 and Saviola struggled under replacement Raddy Antic.

Frank Rijkaard’s arrival saw the club head into a different direction and he was loand out to Champions League finalists Monaco in 2004.

But he struggled in France and was shipped off to Sevilla for the next season and played the first half of the 4-0 Uefa Cup final victory over Middlesbrough.

In the following campaign, he was given a reprieve at Nou Camp, as he started six times and hit five goals after injuries to Samuel Eto’o.

However, he made the shock choice to join Real Madrid in 2007 after his Barcelona contract expired.

Saviola scored just five goals in two seasons as Los Blancos brought in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

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He moved to Benfica in 2009 and found some of the form which saw him join Barcelona as his goals helped the Eagles win a first league title for five years.

Manuel Pellegrini brought him to Malaga in 2012 and he scored his first-ever goal in the Champions League group stage.

But he lasted just a season before moving to Verona.

After one goal in 15 games he returned to River Plate, where he retired in 2016.