Sergi Roberto Carnicer (, born 7 February 1992) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and the Spain national team. Mainly a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he can also operate as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, full-back or winger. He has spent most of his career with

after making his first-team debut at the age of 18, going on to win several accolades with the club including six

championships and two Champions Leagues. Roberto made his first full appearance for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 2016.

Club career

2012 2013 - Sergi Roberto - Flickr - Castroquini-FCB

Born in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Roberto began playing football with local UE Barri Santes Creus at the age of 8, arriving in

's youth academy six years later from neighbours

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

. In the 2009–10 season, at only 17, he first appeared with ''Barças reserves, contributing 29 appearances as they returned to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

after 11 years. On 10 November 2010, Roberto made his debut for the first team, playing the second half of a 5–1 home win against

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

for the campaign's

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

(7–1 on aggregate). On 27 April of the following year he made his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

appearance, coming on as a substitute for

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all time. ...

in the last minute of a 2–0 away victory over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the competition semi-finals' first leg. Roberto first appeared in

on 21 May 2011, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 win at

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

in the season's last round. His first start for the main squad came on 6 December of that year, against BATE Borisov in the Champions League group stage, as manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...

rested all his starters for the upcoming ''

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

'': in the 35th minute, he opened the scoring in an eventual 4–0 home win. In only his third official appearance for Barcelona's first team, on 12 January 2012, Roberto scored his second goal, helping the visitors come from behind to win 2–1 against

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

in the domestic cup (6–1 on aggregate). On 16 December 2014, also in that competition, he netted another, contributing to an 8–1 demolition of

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

. In the 2015–16 season, after being reconverted by manager

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as ...

and merely months after nearly being deemed surplus to requirements, Roberto appeared as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in several games. In two consecutive matches against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

in January 2016, one in

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

and another in the Spanish Cup, he featured on the other flank in the place of injured

Jordi Alba Jordi Alba Ramos (born 21 March 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is often regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation. Alba started his ...

, going on to play in as many as seven different positions. On 20 August 2016, Roberto started as a right-back and provided two assists in a 6–2 home defeat of Betis in the opening match of the campaign. On 24 September, from the same position, he again contributed two decisive passes in a 5–0 away rout of

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

. On 8 March 2017, Roberto scored the final goal in the 95th minute as part of a decisive 6–1 home victory against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16, making Barcelona the first club to overcome a four-goal deficit in the competition. On 22 February 2018, he extended his contract until 2022. In injury time of the first half of ''

'' on 6 May 2018, Roberto was shown a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

after punching

Marcelo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...

, in an eventual 2–2 home draw. He was first-choice right-back during the season ahead of newly signed

Nélson Semedo Nélson Cabral Semedo (born 16 November 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team. Semedo began his career at Sintrense before joini ...

, and his side won the national championship after a one-year wait.

International career

In October 2009, shortly after making his Barcelona B debut, Roberto was called by the Spain under-17 team for the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria. On 5 November, before being substituted by

Javier Espinosa Javier Espinosa González (born 19 September 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Cypriot club AEK Larnaca FC as a central midfielder. Club career Barcelona B Born in Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Espin ...

in the 88th minute, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

at the

Sani Abacha Stadium The Sani Abacha Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. It is mostly used for football matches and athletics. The stadium is the home of NPFL side Kano Pillars F.C. The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 and is named after ...

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

. Spain eventually finished third in the tournament, with him and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

Borja Bastón Borja González Tomás (born 25 August 1992), known as Borja Bastón, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Segunda División club Real Oviedo. Trained at Atlético Madrid, he spent much of his tenure out on loan and w ...

accounting for eight of the team's total goals. Roberto made his debut for the under-21 side on 5 September 2011, playing the last four minutes of the 2–0 win in

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers. He received his first call up to the senior squad in March 2016, for friendlies against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. His debut took place in the former match on the 27th, as he started in a 0–0 draw in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

Style of play

Roberto plays predominantly as a full-back, but also excels in midfield. In the 2015–16 season, under Luis Enrique, he played in seven different positions with Barcelona. This versatility, combined with his pace, strength, rigorous work rate and accurate passing earned the praise of the manager: "In a team like ours, except in goal, he could play in any position, it's no surprise. The most difficult thing is doing it well all over the field and Sergi Roberto does that." He is best utilized as a box-to-box player.

Personal life

In 2014, Roberto started dating Israeli model Coral Simanovich (step-daughter of Israeli singer and former politician

Pnina Rosenblum Pnina Rosenblum ( he, פנינה רוזנבלום, born ) is an Israeli businesswoman, model, media personality, and a former politician. Former Knesset parliament member for Likud from 2005 to 2006. Biography Pnina Rosenblum was born in Petah T ...

). They became engaged in early September 2017, and got married in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

on 30 May 2018. Their first child, Kaia, was born in 2019. Roberto's mother, María Rosa Carnicer, died in December 2019, a year after being diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Roberto goal''

Honours

Barcelona *

: 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

: 2010–11, 2014–15 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

Spain U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

third place:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

runner-up:

Individual *UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2016 *Catalan Footballer of the Year: 2016–17

References

External links

FC Barcelona official profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberto, Sergi 1992 births Living people People from Reus Sportspeople from the Province of Tarragona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players UEFA Champions League winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers Catalonia international footballers