Sergio Busquets: "The recognition of the opponents is the highest of the praises" | Sid Lowe | Soccer

The last time Manchester United and Barcelona met, it ended with a call for mercy. In the final of the 2011 European Cup, Wayne Rooney had 10 minutes before approaching Xavi Hernández and, as the Catalan recalls, he said something like: "That's enough, you won You can stop playing ball now. "Sergio Busquets, who was by his side that day, smiles at the memory, laughing a little, eight years later, he is one of only three of the 26 players who played. at Wembley to stay as the clubs get ready to meet on Wednesday.The nostalgia and joy of reliving the moment he calls "the climax of everything, the point".

Time pbades but nothing happens like this team. Busquets attempted 82 badists against United in the final, losing only five; Leo Messi 100 years old, Andrés Iniesta 115 years old, Xavi 148. The eight players with the highest number of pbades are all Barcelona players, making almost 700 pbades. "They hypnotize you the way they did it," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "Nobody gave us such a hiding place." In the movie Take the ball, pbad the ball, Michael Carrick describes Barcelona as "just too beautiful" – words that made it all the more useful, validating an ideal that Busquets represents.

"Beyond what we have appreciated on the ground, this recognition from our opponents – and we are talking about incredibly important people – leaves you with a sense of pride and gratitude," he said. "Sometimes we can be frustrated when the opponents are so much better, but instead they said things like that. It is the highest praise. We hurt them a lot by keeping the ball; they spent a lot of time chasing after.

"It was the best performance of Pep's time, where our success, our superiority, was the most damning – a demonstration of how we wanted to play." A circle ended at the stage where Barcelona won its first European Cup and the celebration was added. a human dimension that made it even more significant.

What happened next, said Busquets, "reflects everything that we have lived together". Captain Carles Puyol invited Eric Abidal to lift the trophy – six weeks after the cancer diagnosis at Abidal, who had a liver transplant.

So much has happened since then, but clearly for Busquets, who spoke before the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League at Old Trafford, this moment remains unmatched. After spending the preseason with the first team in 2008, Busquets returned to team B, with only Víctor Sánchez and Pedro Rodríguez at the rendezvous. And there you are, thought Busquets. But 10 days later, he was back. "I did not expect that to happen," he says. In less than a year, he won the Champions League by beating United in Rome, one of 30 titles won and counting, including seven leagues, three European Cups, the European Championship and the World Cup . He was 21 years old, he is now 30 years old, sitting at the headquarters of the Spanish national team, photos covering the wall.

"I'm proud of everything I've experienced," he says. "I miss it too. It is very difficult to reach the finals of the World Cup and the Champions League and I want to relive those experiences. There may not be a lot of time for a player who says he will not pursue until 40 years old. The others are already gone and admit is not so far from the time when his decisions will be made, determined not to "stretch too" his career. Along with Busquets, only Sergio Ramos remained in the Spanish team from 2010. In Barcelona, ​​only Messi and Gerard Piqué remain in 2011. Xavi left in 2015, Iniesta last summer, leaving to Busquets the last member of this Midfielder.

"Of course, I miss them. everyone misses them, "he says. "They are unique players, unique in their lives, and I spent years sharing with them. We perfectly complemented each other. All came from La Masia and it's very difficult for another midfielder like that to come out from inside. We understood each other at a glance and we were friends too. But it's the life of a footballer, the natural law. I am younger than them. What matters is what we lived together. "

This finale was mostly the ultimate expression of what Barcelona was and what they are supposed to be. If Busquets obviously holds this value, so are many others – a portrait of perfection against which all other teams are judged, sometimes unfairly.

Guardiola is gone. Under Luis Enrique, Barcelona won a hat-trick in 2015 and a double in 2016. Under Ernesto Valverde, they won the double last season and could win a hat-trick this time: in the lead, with an 11-point lead over Atletico, they enter the finals of the Copa del Rey and the quarterfinals of the Champions League. But that often seems not enough. Valverde, in particular, gets little recognition. "He has a low profile, calmer, quieter, less mediático, Suggests Busquets as an explanation.

"In society and football in Spain, achievements are not always appreciated or valued," he continues. "Nobody seems to remember that not so long ago, Barcelona won only one European Cup. [in 1992]. Now we have five. We know how high the demands are and try to be at that level. But, except the occasional painful defeat that happens to all teams, this generation is irreproachable. In terms of trophies won and the way we played, it's huge. "

In Barcelona, ​​the road counts almost as much as the winner. If, by his own admission, Busquets' approach remains pretty much the same – he smiles at the suggestion that his style sometimes causes heart attacks, insisting that he "take risks," the game has changed, has accelerated and there are different men around him. He had to adapt. his teammates had to adapt to him. They are lucky, he says, whether it's the "chameleon" Ivan Rakitic.

Despite all the idealization of the Guardiola era, which culminates in Wembley, some that some cling to or accuse their club of losing their religion, could there be any elements of the game that later teams have done even better?

"It's hard to say because the teams are better prepared at all levels – physical, tactical, mental – and the players are different now," says Busquets. "I think the best time was with Pep. But football is not the same, it has evolved, so you can not compare what we are doing now with what we did at the time or what we will do in the future. Before that was a very clear 4-3-3; now it's 4-3-3 but sometimes 4-4-2. I like the 4-3-3 that we had before but with our players we can play any system. And finally, the philosophy is the same. "

It's not just a matter of style; it's also success. And in the European Cup, it's too long. Barcelona has not won it since 2015. Worse, Real Madrid has done it three times in a row. It is not surprising that this has become the obsession of the Catalan club. Messi took the microphone during the preparatory presentation, describing last year's quarter-final defeat in Rome as a "thorn in ours" and declaring his priority.

"Sometimes Leo is like that; he may be shy but when he has to talk seriously, he does it, "Busquets said with a smile. "And anyway, it's his job now, he's a captain. We did not know that he was going to say that and I did not think it was planned, but everyone wants to win the Champions League. This is the most prestigious trophy that exists, especially for us after so many years and how we were eliminated last season. "

Barcelona was eliminated in the quarter-finals – its third straight since winning in Berlin. Why is it so long? "Because competition is difficult," says Busquets. "It's not just Barcelona. Apart from Madrid, who won three years in a row, no one has won more than us. [recently]. It is true that we had trouble getting out of it; we have not been strong enough and against the best teams, which makes it difficult. Hope we can learn. We know we have the best player in the world, but that will not be enough. "

For Barcelona, ​​the road is potentially entirely English: United, Liverpool, then City. "If you tell me we can go to the final, tell me where to sign," Busquets said.

"It's not the hardest way, but it's not the easiest. United are better under Solskjær. It does not bother you to let you take the ball. Their opponents may be better at the technical level, but, as we saw with the PSG, they counter-attack well and they are good for the sets. If you make mistakes, they will benefit. "

And if it 's City in the final, against the man who took you to Wembley, the moment that stands out the most in a career filled with them, then what? "Then we will do everything for our teams to win, but my admiration for Pep will never change."