Busquets

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Sergio Busquets Burgos (Catalan: [busˈkɛts],[3] Spanish: [ˈseɾxjo βusˈkets];[A] born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Barcelona and the Spain national team. Busquets is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation due to his composure on the ball, vision and passing ability.[4][5][6][7]

A one-club man, he arrived in Barcelona's first team in July 2008, and made over 550 total appearances. He was part of their squads that won a treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in 2008–09 and 2014–15.

Busquets made his senior international debut for Spain in April 2009, and won over 100 caps. He helped the country win the 2010 World Cup and the Euro 2012 tournaments, and also featured at two other World Cups and Euro 2016.

Club career[edit]

Born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia, Busquets began playing football with local team CD Badia del Vallès,[8] followed by spells with CEF Barberà Andalucía, UE Lleida and UFB Jàbac Terrassa,[9] before joining Barcelona's youth ranks in 2005.[10] He scored seven goals in 26 games for the Juvenil A team in his second season and, two years later, Busquets was promoted to the B team under Pep Guardiola, and helped him achieve promotion to the third division.[11][12] In that same season he would make his first-team debut, coming on as a substitute in the Copa Catalunya.[13]

"Positionally, he seems like a veteran with or without the ball. With the ball he makes what is difficult look easy: he disposes of the ball with one or two touches. Without the ball, he gives us a lesson: that of being in the right place to intercept and running just to recover the ball."

Johan Cruyff, 15 September 2008[14]

On 13 September 2008, Busquets played his first La Liga match, featuring 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw to Racing de Santander.[15] During Barcelona's UEFA Champions League clash against Basel at St. Jakob-Park on 22 October 2008, he scored the second goal in the 15th minute in a 5–0 group stage win;[16] in early December, in another start, he scored his second with Barça in the competition, netting in the 83rd minute of a 2–3 home loss against Shaktar Donetsk.[17]

Busquets attending a press conference for Barcelona in 2009

On 22 December 2008, Busquets signed a contract extension until 2013 with a buy-out clause of €80 million.[18][19] On 7 March 2009 he scored his first league goal, in a 2–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao.[20] On 27 May, having been regularly played as he competed for the spot with internationals Seydou Keita and Yaya Touré, he also featured in Barcelona's starting eleven in the Champions League final, a 2–0 win over Manchester United; with that victory, Carles and Sergio Busquets became only the third father-and-son combo to both have won Europe's top club competition playing for the same team, joining Manuel Sanchís Martínez and Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (won it with Real Madrid) and Cesare Maldini and Paolo Maldini (A.C. Milan).[21]

Busquets' fine form continued in the 2009–10 campaign,[22][23] with Guardiola preferring him to Touré as Barcelona's central holding midfielder. In the Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan at Camp Nou on 28 April 2010, he went down to the ground after Thiago Motta had raised his arm and appeared to push Busquets directly in the face.[24] As a result of this action, the former was shown a red card and dismissed for violent conduct, whilst the latter was subsequently criticised by both Motta and the media for apparently feigning injury.[24][25][26][27]

Busquets was again ever-present in 2010–11, even playing as a central defender on occasion.[28][29] On 27 January 2011, he signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2015 – the buyout clause was increased to €150 million.[30] On 8 March, playing at centre back, he scored an own goal from a corner kick against Arsenal, in the season's Champions League round-of-16, levelling the score at 1–1; Barcelona eventually won the game 3–1 (and 4–3 on aggregate).[31]

On 24 April 2012, Busquets scored a rare goal – only his sixth official one in four years – netting from an easy tap-in after an Isaac Cuenca cross to make it 1–0 for the hosts in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea. Barcelona could only draw 2–2 against ten men, losing 2–3 on aggregate.[32]

On 16 July 2013, the day he celebrated his 25th birthday, Busquets agreed to a new deal until 2018, with the buyout clause remaining unaltered.[33] On 1 August 2014, after the retirement of Carles Puyol and at the veteran's personal request, he was given the number 5 shirt for the upcoming campaign.[34]

Busquets during the 2015 UEFA Super Cup

On 6 June 2015, Busquets started in the final of the Champions League, as the team won their fifth accolade in the competition by beating Juventus at Berlin's Olympiastadion.[35] This made Barcelona the first club in history to win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup twice, and Dani Alves, Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Pedro, Gerard Piqué and Xavi the only players to achieve the same feat.[36]

On 1 October 2017, Busquets opened the scoring in a 3–0 home win against Las Palmas which was played with closed doors at the Camp Nou due to the ongoing Catalan independence referendum.[37] Around a year later, he signed a new contract until June 2023, which increased his buyout clause from €200 million to €500 million.[38] On 24 November 2018 he played his 500th game for Barcelona away to Atlético Madrid,[39] and he made his 100th Champions League appearance on 11 December, in a 1–1 group stage home draw to Tottenham Hotspur.[40]

It has been told that Ronald Koeman promised that Sergio Busquets will remain at FC Barcelona, but with no guarantee that he will appear in the starting line-up[41].

International career[edit]

Busquets playing for Spain in 2012

On 11 October 2008, Busquets earned his first cap for Spain's under-21 in their 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-offs first-leg away match against Switzerland. He scored in the 17th minute of a 1–2 loss,[42] though they eventually emerged victorious 4–3 on aggregate.[43]

On 11 February 2009, Busquets was called up to the senior squad for a friendly against England.[44] He was named as a substitute for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Turkey on 28 March 2009,[45] making his debut in the return match on 1 April, playing 16 minutes in a 2–1 win in Istanbul after replacing David Silva.[46]

"If I were a player, I would like to be like Busquets."

Vicente del Bosque, June 2010[47]

Busquets was selected by manager Vicente del Bosque for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, assuming the holding midfielder role naturalized Brazilian Marcos Senna had previously occupied in the conquest of UEFA Euro 2008.[48] He played all of the tournament's games and minutes for the eventual world champions, save the last 30 minutes of the 0–1 group-stage loss against Switzerland.[49] He finished the tournament with the third–highest pass success rate, alongside his teammate Puyol, completing 88% of his passes.[50]

On 8 September 2014, Busquets scored his first international goal in a 5–1 win over Macedonia during Euro 2016's qualifying phase.[51] His second came during the same tournament on 15 November, in the 3–0 defeat of Belarus in Huelva.[52]

Busquets celebrated his 100th appearance for Spain on 9 October 2017, in a 1–0 away win against Israel for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.[53] Subsequently, he was named in Julen Lopetegui's squad for the finals in Russia.[54]

Style of play[edit]

"He's one of the greatest talents that has been given to Spanish football. This is a discovery. The first time I saw Busquets playing, I called a friend and said: ‘I saw a player from an extinct species’. He's a star."

César Luis Menotti, July 2011[55]

Busquets is usually deployed as either a central or defensive midfielder, although he is also capable of playing as a central defender.[56] A hard-working player, he excels at intercepting loose balls and breaking down opposition plays due to his positional sense, defensive attributes, tackling, tactical intelligence, and ability to read the game, despite his lack of pace.[14][56][57][58][59] Due to his vision, ball control, physical prowess, technical skills and accurate passing ability, he rarely relinquishes possession, and alongside both his current and former midfield teammates, such as Iniesta, Xavi and Ivan Rakitić, he has also played an important creative role in setting his team's tempo in midfield as a deep-lying playmaker through his passing game.[57][60][61][62][63]

Manager del Bosque praised Busquets, saying, "If you watch the whole game, you won't see Busquets—but watch Busquets, and you will see the whole game."[64] The latter's height also allows him to be effective in the air, and enables him to advance into more offensive positions on occasion, providing an additional attacking outlet for his team.[65] Busquets was largely accused of diving by the media on a number of occasions, due to opposition players being wrongly booked or even sent-off during the game because of his excessive play-acting and protests. However, in response to these criticisms, he defended diving in football as intelligent play.[58][66]

Often considered to be one of the most underrated footballers in the world,[67] Busquets earned praise from his peers, with club teammate Messi saying "When there will be trouble, he [Busquets] will be there."[68]

Personal life[edit]

Busquets' father, Carles, was also a footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for Barcelona for several years during the 1990s, although almost exclusively as a backup.[69]

In 2014, Busquets started a relationship with Elena Galera. In 2016, the couple welcomed their son Enzo.[70] He sported an Arabic tattoo on his left forearm translating to "A thing for you, the life in my country", dedicated to his maternal grandfather to whom he was very close.[71]

Career statistics[edit]

Club[edit]

Busquets executing a bicycle kick against Dynamo Kyiv, 2009

As of match played 14 August 2020

Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCopa del Rey EuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBarcelona B 2007–08 [10]Tercera División232———2322008–09 [72]Segunda División B20———20Total252———252Barcelona 2008–09 [73]La Liga241908[a]2—4132009–10 [73]La Liga3304010[a]05[b]15212010–11 [73]La Liga2815012[a]01[c]04612011–12 [73]La Liga3118010[a]13[d]05222012–13 [73]La Liga311408[a]02[c]04512013–14 [73]La Liga321519[a]12[c]04832014–15 [73]La Liga3314010[a]0—4712015–16 [73]La Liga350509[a]04[e]05302016–17 [73]La Liga330508[a]02[c]04802017–18 [73]La Liga3117010[a]02[c]05012018–19 [73]La Liga3506012[a]01[c]05402019–20 [73]La Liga332207[a]01[c]0432Total3799641113423157915Career total40411641113423160417

Notes

^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, two appearances in Supercopa de España, two appearances and one goal in FIFA Club World Cup
^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España
^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance in Supercopa de España, one appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance in Supercopa de España, two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International[edit]

Busquets (furthest right) lining up for Spain in 2017

As of 18 November 2019[74]

Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSpain2009100201016020111102012140201312020141122015802016120201780201890201950Total1162

International goals[edit]

As of 15 November 2014 (Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Busquets goal)[74]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competitionNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition18 September 2014Ciutat de València, Valencia, Spain70 Macedonia3–15–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying215 November 2014Nuevo Colombino, Huelva, Spain73 Belarus2–03–0