I was 12 years old the last time I played in an El Clasico – now I’m back to boss it after stint in the Premier League
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ONE Barcelona player could line up for their first-ever first-team Clasico this weekend - some 20 years after they did it for the youth squad.
Oriol Romeu shocked most people when he returned to Barcelona this summer after leaving the club in 2011 to join Chelsea.
The 32-year-old spent four years with The Blues before making the move to Southampton who he represented for eight years.
After over 250 appearances for the Saints he left for Girona in 2022 before a surprise summer switch to Barcelona this July.
And not many fans would’ve thought he was going to play such an important part in Xavi’s side when he rejoined the Catalan club where he spent his youth.
Romeu has featured in every single La Liga fixture for Barcelona this season and is set to start the biggest match of them all tomorrow.
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Speaking ahead of the feisty clash with Real Madrid, the defensive midfielder explained how paying for his boyhood club again is a dream.
He said: “For a ‘Culé’ [Barcelona fan], playing for Barca is a dream come true, besides doing something that you really like, which is playing football,
“if you do it with the team that you have identified with since you were little, it has a place in your heart and is an added bonus.
"I arrived here when I was 12 years old, and I lived on-site at La Masia in my first year, it was the classic residence.
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“I remember paying in Barca vs Madrid games when I was little, it was a special, beautiful game, it’s a game that since you were little, you look at with a different enthusiasm.”
But it won’t be an easy task if he is to start against Los Blancos this weekend with Real Madrid sat atop the La Liga table thanks to a firing Jude Bellingham.
Romeu has been tasked with filling the established shoes of Sergio Busquests who left Barcelona in the summer to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.
But he doesn’t seem fazed by the weight of the task at hand despite the legendary status of the man who came before him.
“I couldn’t have asked for more, being here and learning form my teammates and the coaching staff, it’s a very nice experience and one that I want to continue soaking up as I keep growing every day.
“Busquets has been the player who has best interpreted how to play in that position in midfield in recent years.
“The challenge is a big, beautiful one and that’s what we are here for, to try to rise to it and do it in the best way possible.”
