Julio Alberto: “Flick and the youngsters have given Barça back its hope”

Julio Alberto was, undoubtedly, one of the most charismatic figures in the 80’s for Barça. and came very close to winning a Champions League with Barcelona in 1986. The former player from Asturias, same region Luis Enrique and Abelardo are from, has recently conceded an interview with Flashscore, where he discussed his career and the present state of some of his former teams, Barcelona among them.

When talking about Flick’s squad, Julio Alberto is optimistic ahead of the future, “Flick and this whole bunch of young players, who have an incredible future, have given Barcelona back its hope. They make us dream, they make us believe and they have given us back our joy. It’s a team that is capable of anything, that plays wonderfully well, and a team that makes you go to the stadium knowing that you are going to enjoy it. We had a bad time in recent years, the circumstances were bad, and I think that we finally have a team to dream of achieving everything”.

Julio Alberto also spoke about the brightest player among those brilliant youngsters, Lamine Yamal, “I think that this boy has a wonderful future ahead of him and we have to take care of him and protect him so that he continues to be the same person that he is now, the same child, as he grows older and matures and becomes the player that he can be”.

Recent struggles with La Liga and its Finantial Fair Play have not gone unnoticed by the former player, “nobody offers explanations to the fans about what the fair play situation is, why certain decisions are being made or how far we can go. I think that fans never quite understand these situations and they do not give us clear explanations.”

Remembering his playing days, Julio Alberto talked about sharing a team with Maradona, “Maradona was a tremendously good person, supportive, generous and a great player”, and also that terrible Champions League final of 1986, in Seville, “I do remember it with sadness because we could have been the first to win the Champions League for Barça.”