Santiago Bernabeu – special place for Sergi

CAIRO – 25 December 2017: Real Madrid’s stadium, Santiago Bernabeu, will always have a special place inside Barcelona midfielder Sergi Roberto’s heart. Roberto had many great memories from playing in front of Real Madrid fans in the stadium that witnessed his magic.

His first memory was so special for Roberto. It was in April 2017 when he was just a young, 19-year-old promising talent in Barcelona’s midfield packed with magicians.

Barcelona was playing Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg when Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola decided to grant Roberto his debut in the competition in such a grand occasion.
Barcelona was leading the game 2-0, thanks to Lionel Messi’s two goals, when Roberto came as a substitute for David Villa a minute before the final whistle.

Roberto crowned his first UEFA Champions League title with the club a month later.

Barcelona fans doubted Roberto’s abilities, as he stayed four years struggling for a regular place on Barcelona’s squad, but everything changed in 2015 after Luis Enrique took control of the club.

His second memory was in 2015 when Barcelona visited Bernabeu again, but after four years, Roberto was an experienced, important player on Barcelona’s squad. Barcelona, under Luis Enrique, visited their rival’s stadium just after Lionel Messi came back from a long-term injury and did not start in the game, but Enrique found the solution to break Madrid’s defense through Roberto.

Roberto was the key to defeating Real Madrid through a new formation from Barcelona. He was playing a right back during defense and in attack he was playing like a winger. Roberto provided an assist to Luis Suarez, who opened the scoring that ended with a 4-0 victory for the Catalans.

After that game, Barcelona fans believed that they had already found their future leader.

Roberto’s third memory came in April 2017 when the game was 2-2 only a minute before the final whistle, before Sergi Roberto used his fresh legs to run from Barcelona’s area to Madrid’s. His run resulted in a goal from Messi and a victory for Barcelona.

On Saturday, he passed the ball to Suarez to open the score, and he played a great role in Barcelona’s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid.

Barcelona fans love their academy product Roberto. They trust his ability to appear in the decisive moments and they will remember all his nights in Bernabeu like they remember his goal in Barcelona’s 6-1 comeback over Paris Saint Germain.