The former deputy director of Mundo Deportivo Francesc Aguilar was one of the journalists with the best contacts in UEFA and FIFA. For years he was on the Ballon d’Or jury. Now he presents the book Treasures of Barça.
You, who have watched a lot of football, classify the decade between 2008 and 2018 as Barcelona’s best years. Because?
I have been professionally linked to Barcelona since 1975. When the 4-2-4 was created I was a founding member. I debuted in a classic. And in 2018 I hung up my boots. But those last ten years I had a great time.
What was the best game?
The highlight was the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley. All the fans and players of Manchester United applauded Barça. I have seen great games in Cruyff’s time, especially at the Camp Nou, but as an expression of football that I like is that game. Ferguson confessed to me that he later justified Rooney that it was impossible to take the ball away from the Blaugrana.
“The final in Bern dynamited the club.” Why was he so critical?
Berna was the culmination of what was perhaps the first dream team, the continuation of the Barça de las Cinc Copes. In that final you can talk about bad luck. The second half, when Suárez joined forces with Kubala in midfield, was spectacular. After the final the team fell apart. Luis Suárez Miramontes would have marked an era as he did at Inter.
It took 35 years to return to the European Cup final.
In Seville I had a feeling that it would not go well. I did not go.
In 1992 the wait was over.
While Cruyff dedicated himself to the sporting issue and Núñez focused on the economic issue, it went well. When both tried to step on each other, everything collapsed. Johan believed that the managers had no idea about football. This is how this pulse began. By the way, the book explains that Cruyff was able to arrive a few months earlier. If Alexanco did not score the goal against Real in the Cup final in March 1988, Johan was already waiting at the Geneva airport. Casaus convinced the president that he would be a unifier.
Barça, Catalan and Catalanist.
But its history is not understood without Gamper, Paulino Alcántara, Kubala, Cruyff and Messi. They are five foreigners but the people and themselves did not consider themselves that way. They were installed and integrated.
Gamper is from a movie.
He seemed like a dreamer but he had the current Barça in his head. Other sports such as fencing were already important to him. He was clear that he wanted a multi-sports, integrative football club that defended the values ??of Catalanism. He was a visionary.
Is it unfair to Alcántara?
The great misfortune for him is that his records are before the League, but he has many. He is a true hidden genius.
What does Kubala represent?
People are not aware of what Laszi’s arrival meant. He brought the effect to Spanish football. In games, rivals were left thinking about how he did it. He was an extraordinary athlete and the legends about him are true. Some of his big games were when he was most affected. It was all heart, the Hungarian consulate in Catalonia.
Does the Di Stéfano case change history?
They were never jealous, as they say. They hurt Barça and football. One of the games they played together was against Bologna. Coach Giuseppe Viani said: “I have never witnessed a spectacle similar to that of Kubala and Di Stéfano.” They scored by leaving their area making walls.
50 years since Cruyff’s 0-5.
Before going to the Bernabéu, Michels and Cruyff meet to decide that Johan will play as a false 9. It is one of the successes of that match. Either he caught Madrid on the counterattack at speed or he forced Madrid’s centre-backs to leave, who were the masters inside the area. The winners were Asensi, Juan Carlos and Sotil, who took advantage of the spaces he left in the middle.
Did you imagine that Messi, a player created at La Masia, would win eight Ballon d’Ors?
I don’t know if that many but yes. I helped a little in the first ones because Leo wasn’t that well known yet. The son of Roberto Martínez, the former Espanyol and Madrid player, had my head spinning until I went to see him. What definitely makes me believe that he is gifted is that Deco and Ronaldinho told Rijkaard: “Mister, put the kid in, he is very good.”
Barça is once again a pioneer with its commitment to women’s football.
It is one of the chapters that I am most proud of. For the creation of the women’s team, Inma Cabecerán, who was the wife of former player Pau García Castany, recreated Gamper’s steps for the foundation and published an advertisement in Barcelonista Magazine in which she asked women who liked to play to sign up. After insisting to President Montal, they let them play but they had no clothes or balls to train with.
And now the last three Ballon d’Or awards are from Barça…
Parents must be made aware that not all their daughters will be Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí.
Are the World Cups in Qatar and Saudi Arabia going well for football?
I couldn’t imagine the way they were awarded but Havelange already had the obsession of turning football into a world sport. It is more scandalous that they gave it to Videla in 1978.
Is Barça’s greatest treasure being owned by its members?
I’ve been wondering this for years. It is very beautiful and will last a lifetime if possible. But it will be difficult to compete with state clubs and billionaires.
