He is the twenty-third player who has defended the Blaugrana shirt the most times. A footballer who has played 366 games for a club as demanding as Barcelona must have something special in his feet and head. Sergi Roberto, 32 years old, a one club man, has always had doubts about both from outside. “It can happen like with Busquets, that when he left we saw how important he was,” they say from within.
A footballer who makes things simple for the rest, who does not give a touch more or less and prioritized the common good over his own brilliance by playing as a right back for a long time, the last few games have once again highlighted the figure of the youth squad player as a midfielder. Xavi, his great supporter, had not forgotten him.
That’s why he turned to him in the final half hour against Naples in the Champions League even though he hadn’t played in a month and a half. He entered the field, the team got organized, regained control, and the inside gave the assist to Lewandowski to score 3-1 and seal the pass to the quarterfinals. A few then remembered the type of player Sergi Roberto is.
On the other hand, there is a place, a fan, a club that cannot get Sergi Roberto out of their minds. The Reus midfielder always appears in PSG’s biggest nightmares because of what happened on March 8, 2017. In the 95th minute Sergi Roberto went for a cross from Neymar and finished over Trapp. It was the 6-1 that culminated and materialized as possible a comeback that seemed impossible.
Just before Barça crosses paths with the Parisians, the captain, invisible at many times during the season, has become visible. If he plays in Paris, it will be the third consecutive start for him, after overcoming discomfort in the Achilles tendon in his left foot. In that sense, the national team breaks and the Cup will help him fully reach the duel at the Parc des Princes.
With Xavi, Sergi Roberto has returned to his origins in the center of the field after years recycling as a right back and has regained his arrival. Thus, the last two are his two best seasons in terms of scoring records: four last year and three this year (including the double to beat Almería 3-2 in December).
Surely De Jong and Pedri are more spectacular, Fermín more intense and Gündogan more decisive, but none of them knows and interprets what they need so well and is better at Barcelona’s game at all times as the captain, always very neat with the ball. to the point that he only missed four passes against the Italians, six at the Metropolitano and five in 81 minutes against Las Palmas.
Sergi Roberto’s weight in the locker room is great, helping the adaptation of youth players such as Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí and Héctor Fort. The captain, anointed on the United States tour last summer, has not won any title yet and may not do so if the season ends blank since his contract ends in three months. At the moment, there is no news. But he has become very visible.
