Sergio Busquets Burgos is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and captains both La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is considered to be a deep-lying playmaker capable of directing gameplay — through short and calm passes, exceptional positioning, and his singular reading of the game — and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of all time.
A one-club man, he arrived in Barcelona's first team in July 2008. Since then he has made over 600 total appearances for the club and has won 30 trophies, including 8 La Liga titles, 7 Copa del Rey titles and 3 UEFA Champions Leagues. He was part of their squads that won a continental treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in 2008–09 and 2014–15.
Busquets made his senior international debut for Spain in April 2009, and has since made over 130 appearances for the national side. He helped the country win the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 tournaments, and also featured at two other World Cups and as many European Championships.
Considered by several pundits to be one of the best midfielders of his generation, and one of the greatest holding midfielders of all time, Busquets is usually deployed as either a central or defensive midfielder, although he is also capable of playing as a central defender. A hard-working player, he excels at intercepting loose balls and breaking down opposition plays due to his positional sense, defensive attributes, tackling, tactical intelligence, and ability to read the game, despite his lack of pace. Due to his vision, ball control, physical prowess, technical skills, calm composure on the ball, and accurate passing ability, he rarely relinquishes possession, and alongside his former midfield teammates, such as Iniesta, Xavi and Ivan RakitiC, he has also played an important creative role in setting his team's tempo in midfield as a deep-lying playmaker through his short passing game. His role has also been likened to that of a metodista ("centre-half," in Italian football jargon), due to his ability to dictate play in midfield as well as assist his team defensively. His position and playing style have led him to be compared to his former manager, as well as fellow former Spain and Barcelona player, Pep Guardiola.
Manager del Bosque praised Busquets, saying, "If you watch the whole game, you won't see Busquets—but watch Busquets, and you will see the whole game." The latter's height also allows him to be effective in the air, and enables him to advance into more offensive positions on occasion, providing an additional attacking outlet for his team. Busquets has been accused of play-acting in the past, due to his tendency of exaggerating fouls. However, in response to these criticisms, he defended his behavior as intelligent, arguing that the realities of the game are more complex.
Often considered to be one of the most underrated footballers in the world, Busquets earned praise from his peers, with former club teammate Messi saying "When there will be trouble, Busquets will always be there." |
