Barcelona is the Club of My Life, and This is What My Teammates Called Me

Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona defender, revealed the behind-the-scenes of his beginnings with the first team and the major milestones in his career, talking about his first appearance, his participation in the Champions League, and his insistence on staying at the club despite offers.

Cubarsi spoke about the day of his first appearance: “We were going to play a cup match against Unionistas, during the break, Xavi asked me to start warming up, and just before I entered, he grabbed my arm and told me he had full confidence in me.”

He continued: “On the field, I felt comfortable and calm, the hardest part came afterward: interviews, microphones, and all those cameras. I always spoke Catalan with my family and friends, and I practiced Spanish at school.”

He added: “Four days later, the day after my first start in the league against Betis, Xavi congratulated me and wished me a happy birthday in front of everyone, Lewandowski approached me and said: Are you really 17 years old? He couldn’t believe what he saw.”

Regarding his Champions League debut, he said: “Before the second leg of the round of 16 against Napoli, Xavi told me I would be a starter, even though I hadn’t played a single minute in the first leg, in front of me was Osimhen, one of the best strikers in the world.”

He added: “I tried to be strong but calm, defend well, and effectively bring the ball out from the back, and when they told me in the dressing room that I was chosen as the best player in the match, I couldn’t believe it.”

Cubarsi recalled a funny incident in the same tournament, saying: “Against Red Star, during one of the plays, I lowered my head, and the opposing player raised his foot and touched my face, I started bleeding, and they called the doctor.”

He added: “During the break, he told me they needed to stitch the wound, I asked him first to let me take a selfie to send to my mom to tell her I was okay, and also to keep it as a memory.”

He continued with a smile: “To be able to play against Real Sociedad after a few days, I had to wear a protective helmet that made me look like a McDonald’s employee, my teammates called me McDonald’s waiter.”

About joining Barcelona, he said: “When my parents told me that Barcelona wanted to sign me after a tournament in Cugnia wearing Girona’s jersey, I wanted to jump for joy and run through the entire parking lot, as a Barcelona fan, it was impossible to say no.”

He added: “My first memories of Barcelona are linked to Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi, then the MSN trio, the Champions League final against Juventus in 2015 is the first big match I really remember, that day I told myself I want to play for Barcelona.”

He concluded his statements by saying: “While I was in the youth categories, several clubs started to show interest in me, but I never thought of leaving, Oscar, Xavi’s brother and then assistant coach, told me, ‘We rely on you, don’t leave, you will be important,’ those words gave me a boost of confidence, Barcelona is the club of my life.”