a gentleman. And Ciro is similar to Mateo, or
maybe worse, we’ll see.
Despite having won everything, the Puskas
prize has escaped you. How do you feel?
I always say that individual awards are not my
targets. The Best, the Ballon d’Or or the Golden
Shoe are not [my targets], and even less the best
goal of the year. If I get it it’s fine, otherwise
everything is OK.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
like to promote themselves. You do not do
that. How do you find yourself as a player?
I’d rather people talk about me. I know what I
am, what I did and what I can give, but I keep
it to myself. People can have their say. I don’t
like to talk about myself, I like to talk about
the collective.
Do you see yourself evolving over time into
a midfielder?
I don’t know, it depends on how it goes. Now
I usually drop myself deeper [on the pitch]
to receive and be in contact with the ball and
the midfield. I don’t know what will happen
in the future.
Do you have any idea how long you will
continue to play or is it something that
you are monitoring?
You realise yourself how long you can continue
[playing]. I’ll find out over time. I’ll be the first to
say I’ve come this far and I can’t do it anymore
or that I feel good to carry on. Over the years I
will find that out.
There is an open debate in Germany about
who should be their first-choice keeper. Who
do you think is the best goalkeeper between
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Manuel Neuer,
and what are their main skills?
They are two great goalkeepers. They are
goalkeepers with similar characteristics. They
read the play very well, they could
play with their feet like midfielders
and they are very fast between the
sticks. I know Marc well and I can
talk about him, but I don’t see
Neuer training and I don’t usually
watch his matches, but I think
they are generally two similar
goalkeepers.This year you have missed some
games due to injury. How do
you feel now that your body
is asking for more breaks?
It is difficult because your mind
is fine; you think that you are
25-years old and that you can
continue doing the same things
[as before] at the time. But
the body rules and there are
circumstances in which you have
to be more careful than before.
Adapting to it requires a process
and preparing differently for
training and matches.What is the difference between
Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and
the current one?
The truth is that it has been a long
time since then. There are many
new players; I think we only have three or four
from that era. The team was transforming and
adapting to the players we had each season.What are Frenkie De Jong’s best qualities
and how is your understanding with him
on the pitch?
It has been easy for him to adapt to the team
because he came from a similar philosophy at
Ajax. He grew up with the same idea and the
same way of playing, although there he did not
have much to play as an “anterior” [slightly
further ahead in midfield than the holdingmidfielder]. As a pivot [or holding midfielder] he
feels more comfortable, but he has adapted well.
He likes to have the ball, play short passes, play
passes between the lines, and he has a very fast
and strong stride. He is a complete footballer.Why is it so difficult to beat a player like
Virgil Van Dijk?
He is a defender who knows how to judge
his timing and wait for the right moment to
challenge or jockey [the attacker]. He is very fast
and big, but he has a lot of agility for his height.
He is fast because of his great stride, and he is
impressive both in defence and attack because
he scores lots of goals.Cristiano Ronaldo always recommends
leaving your comfort zone of Barcelona
and looking for other leagues, as he has
done four times. Will you listen to him?
Everyone looks for their targets and their
experiences. I never had the need to leave the
best club in the world, that Barcelona are, and
where I enjoy training, games and the city. [The
city to club dynamic] is very complete and I was
always sure about the targets at this club [rather
than going to] look for it elsewhere.Were you surprised by Antonio Conte’s Inter
in this season’s Champions League?
I wasn’t surprised because we knew what we
were going to see. I had seen them in the Italian
league, where they started very well, and they
are fighting Juventus as equals, which is not easy.
We had studied them before facing each other
and we knew that they are a very tidy
team who play with heart and many
automatisms, and that they were going
to be a very difficult opponent.
Interview by Juan Ignacio Gallardo/ESMFamily...with his wife and two of
their boys at the presentationHappy...with
both Barcelona
the club and the city