Barcelona icon reflects on his time at club post retirement – ‘Could’ve won three or four Champions Leagues’ | OneFootball

Ivan Rakitic will go down in history as one of the most underrated players ever, but every true Barcelona fan knows how important the midfielder was to the team’s stability at a time of transition.

The Croatian star announced his retirement from the game earlier this week in an emotional letter on his social media, and his genius on the field will be missed.

After all, he was always a player who gave his all for the crest, ran for the club like his life depended on it and pitched up with match-winning goals for the team that very few others could boast of.

Rakitic speaks on his time at Barcelona

Speaking to the media in a recent interview, the Barcelona legend opened up on a number of topics and especially in detail about his time at the club.

He began by speaking on his retirement and whether it was a pre-formed decision in his head.

“I think, of course, you don’t have it at any time. Yes, there were times when I said ‘come on, well, yes’, and the next day I said no.”

“I want to thank football very much for what it has given me. I wanted to leave football and it never happened that football would leave me. I could have played up to two or three more years. But it’s not about that, it’s about seeing the perfect moment,” he added.

Opening up on his future aspirations, Rakitic said: “I’m going to study ‘Sports Management’ with UEFA. I’m going to start working as a manager at Hajduk Split.”

The player then opened up on his move to Barcelona and how he received the call of interest at a very complicated moment.

“All that was right in the World Cup in Brazil. I was on the plane with the national team just about to take off to go to Brazil, and my brother called me to let me know: ‘We have to talk quickly, it’s an important issue.'”

“We were taking off and they were taking my phone, but my brother passed me to Zubizarreta. It was to let me know that Barça was very interested. But I didn’t have time and I had to hang up with a 10-hour flight ahead,” he added.

Ivan Rakitic announced his retirement recently. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

On the nervousness he battled in the long flight ahead, he humorously remembered the moment and his emotions.

“Imagine the nerves, I had to wait 10 hours. I tried to rest a little, but I didn’t sleep for a minute. And then, the truth is, everything went very fast, especially for Luis Enrique and Zubi. We agreed, and from the first moment, I was looking forward to joining Barça.”

He also spoke about Luis Enrique, who had a massive role to play in signing him for Barcelona, even ahead of Toni Kroos, who was an option at the time.

“There had to be something with that interest he had in me. At that time, the truth is, there were a lot of things. But of course, when I spoke the first time with Zubi and then also with Luis, I was clear that I only wanted to sign for Barça,” he said.

“He told me he wanted to have me on his team. That he had already told the club very clearly, and they wanted to close me as soon as possible,” he added.

Speaking on his adaptation to the club and how it was difficult arriving from Sevilla who play a different brand of football, the Croatian star said,

“Well, it was a matter of understanding things. I remember that Unai Emery always said: ‘If you don’t know where to pass the ball, give it to Rakitic’. And that at Barça was different. I already knew that arriving at Barça was not going to have that role.”

“It’s logical. I always told myself that I didn’t want to change: ‘I want to try to be me, try to convince those players who have already won everything, who are already the top level,'” he added on his mentality.

Elaborating on the same, he noted: “It was a matter of understanding the game, because Barça is special in this sense. Barça had a base already made by itself, and I had to understand my teammates.”

“It took us a little while to catch the details, but once it was like this, we all got to enjoy it,” he added.

Rakitic was then asked about the close memories he held at Berlin, especially those related to Barcelona, especially for his UEFA Champions League winning goal there.

“Well, high up, very important. Very important because they are emotions that in the end I hope all the boys who like football can live. After Berlin, I wanted the first day of the League to start again and thus be able to continue. We felt so good and we had such a spectacular atmosphere,” he said.

Rakitic won the UCL with Barcelona. (Photo by OLIVIER MORIN/AFP via Getty Images)

The player was then asked how such a special team won the UEFA Champions League only once together, to which he admitted that they did indeed deserve more.

“It’s very sad. It’s very sad and makes us angry. And I am convinced that Leo, Luis, Ney, Busi, Andres, Pique and the rest of us would like to put a good host to each one because I said it many times with all my respect: ‘We have left each other,'” he said, insisting that every player in the team was inter-dependant.

“That’s why I said before that Xavi’s figure in that first season was very important. At that time, we didn’t understand it, but now with time, I think we do understand it. Without him, all those details that he had controlled escaped us along the way,” he added on the impact of Xavi’s departure.

“And it’s a shame, it’s a great shame because I think we could have perfectly won three or four Champions Leagues,” he added.

On what went wrong in all the reverse fixtures and how the team bottled leads repeatedly, he said,

“I don’t know. If it were so easy to explain or correct, we would have corrected it at that very moment. But sometimes it happens that you still stop taking care of those details.”

“To win a normal match in the group stage or prepare well for a round after winning the first leg, clearly at home. You let things happen, and in the end, football, especially at the highest level, punishes you,” he added.

Speaking on the team’s 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich and whether he was happy he did not play on the night, Rakitic said,

“No, no. We lacked a little balance, strength in those little details. It makes me sadder every day because I wanted to be there to help the team.”

“More than a stain, it makes me rather sad because I couldn’t help the team, especially because that’s how my end was at Barça. I didn’t want it to be like this,” he added.

Finally, Rakitic spoke on his departure from the club, his feelings and how he decided to part ways.

“It is never a tasteful dish for a professional to leave Barça. But, thinking about the departures, look at how Messi and Suarez came out… but still I remember their good words towards the club, towards the president, even at that time, who was Bartomeu.”

“For me, it was very important, first and foremost, to understand that my time at Barça was already over. And that’s why I told the president very clearly that we had to look for a solution,” he added.

“I also want to have words of gratitude to the president, to the coaches I had, the workers, the fans… For our life there for six years. The truth is that I can’t do anything but say thank you,” he concluded.

Source: SPORT