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 lea ...

who plays for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

. Mainly a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he can also operate as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

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

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

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

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 2016.

Club career

Barcelona

2012 2013 - Sergi Roberto - Flickr - Castroquini-FCB

Born in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, 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 . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

. 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, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

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 (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

for the campaign's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

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

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

appearance, coming on as a substitute for

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Villa is th ...

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

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

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 Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in the season's last round. His first start for the main squad came on 6 December of that year, against

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; , ''BATE Barysaw,'' ), commonly referred to as BATE or BATE Borisov, is a Belarusian professional football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusian Premier League, of which the ...

in the Champions League group stage, as manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

rested all his starters for the upcoming ''

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

'': 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 association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

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 (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. 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. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

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 player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

in several games. In two consecutive matches against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

in January 2016, one in

the league ''The League'' is an American television 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, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

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 Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. He is often regarded as among the best full-backs of his genera ...

, 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 is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

. 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 () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

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 the fixture with Real Madrid 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 di ...

after punching

Marcelo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus (name), Marcellus. Marcelo may refer to: Given name *Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapist, and necrophile *Marcelo Arriagada (born 1973), Chile ...

, 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 Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back or right wing-back for club Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverha ...

, and his side won the national championship after a one-year wait. Roberto suffered a quadriceps strain injury in late October 2021 and was successfully operated in December by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, Finland. On 3 March 2023, he agreed to an extension until 2024. In spite of dealing with several physical problems, he scored a career-best four goals for the league champions. On 30 June 2024, with 373 competitive appearances to his credit, Roberto left Barcelona as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Como

On 23 August 2024, Roberto signed for

club

on a two-year deal. On 24 September, as the newly promoted side, coached by his former Barcelona teammate

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...

, won 3–2 at

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, he assisted Gabriel Strefezza in the first goal after backheeling a pass from Ignace Van Der Brempt.

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 Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

Javier Espinosa Javier Espinosa González (born 19 September 1992) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder. Club career Barcelona B Born in Talavera de la Reina, Province of T ...

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 Wick ...

against

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

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 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Kano Pillars F.C. The stadium ha ...

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 betwee ...

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

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

's Borja Bastón 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 (, ) 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 of 100,060 in 2024, ...

over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

for the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

qualifiers. He received his first call up to the senior squad in March 2016, for friendlies against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. Roberto was selected by Luis Enrique to the

2021 UEFA Nations League Finals The 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international Association football, football competition involving the men' ...

. He featured in the 2–1 semi-final win over Italy for the runners-up.

Style of play

Roberto plays predominantly as a midfielder, but also excels as a full-back. 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 utilised as a box-to-box player.

Personal life

In 2014, Roberto started dating Israeli model Coral Simanovich (step-daughter of Israeli businesswoman Pnina Rosenblum). They became engaged in early September 2017, and got married in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

on 30 May 2018. Their first child, Kaia, was born in 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Barcelona *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19,

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 ...

: 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 ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, 2014–15 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, 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 offic ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

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 annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

third place:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

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 Sportspeople from Reus 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Tarragona Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Serie A players Como 1907 players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy