According to "Varzesh 3", Marc Cucurella has played against Barcelona seven times so far, with three of those matches held at the Camp Nou stadium. He has taken to the pitch at Barcelona's stadium once in an Eibar shirt and twice in a Getafe shirt. Cucurella never faced Barcelona during his time at Brighton, but played against them once in a match held at Stamford Bridge while wearing the Chelsea shirt.
Nurtured in La Masia, development at smaller teams and transfer to Real Madrid
All three of Cucurella's visits to Barcelona's stadium as an opposing team player have ended in defeat for him. Sunday's match will be a special occasion for the defender from Alella. He spent six years in Barcelona's youth ranks.
Cucurella even managed to make his official debut in Barcelona's senior team shirt, but this happened outside the city of Barcelona. Ernesto Valverde was the coach who gave him his debut opportunity and played him for eight minutes during a Copa del Rey match against Murcia. However, Valverde was also the coach who did not consider Cucurella ready to step up to the first team and preferred to choose Juan Miranda as Jordi Alba's replacement.
The continuation of Cucurella's professional path is also clear; before moving to Real Madrid, he wore the shirts of Eibar, Getafe, Brighton, and Chelsea.
Opportunities to return to the Spanish League
This summer, Barcelona would only consider signing the Spanish national team's starting left-back, a World Cup winner, if Balde left the club. Cucurella was keen to return to La Liga and, given Barcelona's hesitation, seemed on the verge of accepting an offer from Atletico Madrid.
However, Real Madrid made every effort to sign him, and Mourinho managed to persuade Cucurella to join the club presided over by Florentino Perez. Cucurella's decision was met with significant negative reactions from a section of Barcelona fans, who criticized his choice on social media.
Many Barcelona fans cannot understand how a player nurtured in the club's academy ultimately chose Real Madrid to continue his professional career.
Of course, some believe that when Barcelona never seriously pursued signing him, Cucurella was entitled to choose the best option for his professional future without considering other matters. One factor that may explain his decision is that his partner is from Madrid and a passionate Real Madrid fan. Any player who has a history with Barcelona and later returns to Camp Nou wearing the white shirt of Real Madrid faces a negative reaction from Barca fans.
Returning to Barcelona in a Real Madrid shirt
Luis Figo faced the most hostile reception, as his direct transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid was viewed as betrayal by Barca fans. Players such as Bernd Schuster, Luis Milla, Michael Laudrup, and Albert Celades also faced widespread hostile whistling, although the intensity of these reactions was not comparable to what Figo experienced. In Cucurella's case, the difference is that his time in Barcelona's senior team was so limited and symbolic that he never actually played at the Spotify Camp Nou in the Blaugrana shirt. Nevertheless, his background of being nurtured in Barcelona's academy may cause fans not to hide their feelings toward this Catalan defender.
Cucurella will be the fourth player nurtured in La Masia to return to Camp Nou after joining Real Madrid. Before him, Justo Tejada, Luis Milla, and Albert Celades experienced such circumstances. Of course, there was also the case of Samitier prior to that, but in those days Barcelona played its home matches at the Les Corts stadium.
Everything indicates that Cucurella may be one of the players who hears the most jeers and whistles from Barcelona fans, and it remains to be seen to what extent he will be able to handle this pressure. Cucurella and Lamine Yamal are teammates on the Spanish national team, but their good personal relationship will not prevent intense competition and conflict on the pitch.
The 28-year-old Cucurella is accustomed to playing in high-pressure environments, but he will likely experience one of the toughest nights of his career against fans who are unhappy with his choice of a new club.
Gerard Lopez's opinion on Cucurella's return
Gerard Lopez was Cucurella's coach when he was performing brilliantly for Barca Atltic. In an interview with the Spanish publication Sport, the coach from Granollers spoke about the return of this La Masia-nurtured defender to Barcelona: "I think the fans at Camp Nou will give Cucurella the same reception they give any Real Madrid player. Naturally with whistles and without any affection or welcome, but I don't think the reactions will go beyond that."
The former coach of Barcelona's B team is aware of what happened and the reasons that led to Cucurella failing to secure a permanent spot in the first team. These very circumstances have led him to imagine that Cucurella's return will not be overly controversial: "Cucu was a player who rarely played in the first team and never had a special relationship with the fans. Then he went to Real Madrid like Figo or Laudrup. Unfortunately, Cucurella didn't make it to the first team. I always thought letting him go was a mistake, and he was later able to achieve success."
Gerard Lopez understands why a significant portion of Barcelona fans are upset about Cucurella's transfer to Real Madrid, but this current Movistar pundit does not expect the Real Madrid defender to face any peculiar or different treatment in this match.
He concluded by saying: "It is true that a Catalan player joining Real Madrid has caused a lot of upset, but he did what he thought was better for his professional career. It is not his fault that Barcelona did not trust him, but now Real Madrid has trusted him. I don't think the fans' treatment of him will be any different from other Real Madrid players."
Source: Varzesh 3
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