25 years since Carles Puyol’s official debut

It was a quarter of a century ago on 2 October 1999 that Carles Puyol played his very first competitive game for FC Barcelona, a 2-0 win away to Real Valladolid with the goals scored by Kluivert and Rivaldo.

Boss, I’m ready to play

The 17-year-old had joined the club four years earlier in 1995 and after rising up through the ranks was now on the verge of making the leap to the senior level. In the build-up to that game, the teenager had sprained his ankle, an injury that would have impeded any normal player from playing. But Puyol was no normal player. Shrugging off any concerns, when coach Louis van Gaal asked him how he was feeling, Puyol said “boss, I’m ready to play.”

And on he went, to play at right back in the place of Simao Sabrosa. It was his first ever senior appearance but it never showed. He was as solid in defence as he was in support of attack. One of the greatest defenders ever to grace the game had taken his first bow.

Van Gaal was utterly convinced by the youngster, and used him in 37 games that season. By the end of the campaign he was a firmly established feature in the middle of the Barça rearguard, and by 2004 he was the captain. A one-club man, he kept the armband for the remaining ten years of his playing career, and it is hard to think of a more worthy bearer than he. A born leader, and an example to everyone with his no-nonsense attitude, and a damned fine defender too, Puyol was one of the main reasons for Barça’s unprecedented success during his time in the team.