It's a great source of pride to be the captain of this team because of everything it means.
But the way I am both on and off the field isn't going to change at all.
It's going to be very similar to before. I have been one of the alternate captains for years now.
So, in that sense, nothing will change.
I think that I really identify with all of it. We all grew up here and we all feel the same way about the club.
Maybe among the three of them, I am more similar to Andrés, but I also have as much knowledge about
the club as Xavi and Puyol. So, obviously, it's a pretty big deal for me.
No, the truth is my remarks were not prepared, but yes, I was prepared to speak to the crowd.
I knew that I had to do it and there was no way out of it, so mentally I was prepared,
but what I said was what I was thinking in the moment and was what all Barça fans feel.
Yes, I think it's about time, because we are coming off three consecutive years
being knocked out in the quarterfinals, and the last one was perhaps the worst
of all due to the advantage we had going into it, because of the way the match went.
we have, we have a spectacular roster, and because we can do it, not just to say that we can do it.
We have the team and the players to be able to compete and battle in that competition.
I think both. In the Champions League, we could have another title, like in the Pep Guardiola era
when we faced Inter Milan and Chelsea in the semifinals, and we were clear contenders
and were superior to our opponents, but due to some details and little things it didn't work out.
And the competition is also getting more and more balanced, with more parity,
there are clubs with a lot of money that have made themselves strong, and today it seems players
make their decisions based more on money than on which club, and the one that pays more gets the player,
and it isn't bad, because before players either went to Madrid or Barça, which are the top clubs.
Today, there are many more clubs competing to be the best, like Manchester, Chelsea, Madrid, us, Paris, teams in Italy this year.
There are a lot of teams that have a lot of money.
I think I spoke about this a while back, since Thiago, my first son, was born,
I try to deal with losing in a different way, but it's very tough, I suffer a lot,
and I have a hard time getting back up after a hard blow,
like the rest of this team, which is accustomed to winning and is always wanting more.
Sometimes it happens, because Thiago knows. He's starting to get really interested in football,
and he follows Barça and Argentina, and after a tough loss, he doesn't talk about it.
He knows it's not a good topic of conversation, but he sometimes ends up blurting something out,
then he catches himself. So, even he knows that we suffer a lot when we lose.
Back then, I knew that I wanted to be a goal scorer, but now it's totally different,
I prefer to give assists, and if I have a chance to score, I take it, which isn't too bad.
The players who have come are all very good, but if I have to pick just one, I would say Arthur,
who has surprised me, I didn't really know too much about him, and talking about the similarities
and comparisons, the truth is that his style of play is very similar to that of Xavi, he always wants the ball
and looks for short passes, he doesn't want to turn the ball over, he's very reliable, and the truth is he surprised me.
But, I tell you, I really liked all of the signings the club made this year.
The FC Barcelona fans are used to it, they always want the best players, we are accustomed to defending by having the ball,
and trying to have maximum control of possession throughout the game, and I think today,
players like Arturo, who is also very good with the ball, does a lot of hard, physical work, and helps out defensively,
are important to have on any team, because the game is becoming ever more tactical and more physical. It keeps getting tougher,
the games are more monotonous, and above all when you're playing away from home or in the Champions League,
when there are big distances involved, you can feel how physical your opponents are,
and we're usually the smaller side, so it's good for us to have players like that as well.
I have everything here. I've been here since I was 13 years old, my whole life is here. I am on the best team in the world.
The city, if it isn't the best, it's one of the best in the world. I have my family here. My sons were born in Catalonia.
I have no need to go anywhere else, for all of these reasons.
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