Unsung hero is Barca's heartbeat

Emmet Malone profiles a home-grown talent whose robust defending allows his side to play their expansive football

While the rest of the world wonders if it might be another piece of magic from Ronaldinho that decides tonight's Champions League final in Paris, Catalonians will be hoping the game is remembered for the heroics of some of their home-grown heroes too.

There are few complaints, of course, about the way the Brazilian superstar makes the headlines, or the way in which Portugal's Deco and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o often seem to be the most celebrated of the support cast, but there is understandable pride in that key members of this Barcelona team were groomed for stardom by the club itself.

Victor Valdes, Oleguer Presas, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta all learned their trade in the club's academy before graduating from the Barcelona's second division B team. None, though, has won quite so many Catalan hearts along the way as the side's inspirational skipper, Carles Puyol, the linchpin of a defensive unit whose efficiency allows Frank Rijkaard's team to play the way it does.

Born 28 years ago in the Pyrenean town of La Pobla de Segur, "Lionheart", "Tarzan" or "Carletti" as the supporters variously refer to him, started in the game as a striker with his local schoolboy team.

"Everybody there is a "Cule" (Barcelona fan)," he says, "and every kid wants to play for the club." At the age of 17, Puyol took an important step towards making his own dream a reality by signing for the Catalan giants.

By now a right back, he spent three seasons with the B team and made steady progress. Then, in November 1999, Louis van Gaal drafted him into the first-team squad and gave him his league debut. Puyol performed well as Barca won 2-0 and the young defender has never looked back.

The following summer he was an influential member of the Spanish side that took the silver medal at the Sydney Olympics but it was in 2002 that Puyol really seemed to come of age.

In Japan and South Korea, where he featured prominently during the game against Ireland, he showed the full range of his talents. His efforts were recognised later that year when he was named for the first time in the Uefa team of the year.

When his club changed not just manager but president, the impact upon Puyol was immediate though not as dramatic as at it seemed likely to be at one stage. The player switched to the centre of the team's defence from where he exerted a good deal more influence over what went on around him but when Joan Laporta revealed that the previous regime had run up huge debts in a failed attempt to compete with Real Madrid, the prospect of him being sold to generate cash was suddenly raised.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Milan were all mentioned as possible buyers with a fee of €15 million being mentioned, but Rijkaard was clearly reluctant to let the player go.

Puyol himself impressed with his handling of the situation, saying that he would go if that was what was required to help turn the club around but sounding genuine when adding that he preferred to stay. Fearing a backlash from a membership that had already taken the defender to their hearts, Laporta opted to find another way of getting money in.

That decision proved pivotal as Puyol has assumed an ever-increasing importance. His reading of the game is superb and his tackling so good that he rarely picks up bookings or suspensions. This year he has played 46 league and Champions League games for the club, a figure matched only by Valdes, the team's goalkeeper and his performances have been consistently outstanding.

"I've seen a lot of him," says former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland centre back Mark Lawrenson, "and what becomes very clear very quickly is that he is the heartbeat of this Barcelona team. People talk about the Ronaldinhos, the Decos, the Eto'os and rightly so but Puyol is a vital part of what the team does.

"He's the best defender they have . . . he's very quick and better in the air than he sometimes gets credit for. He's the driving force from the back, clean tackler who keeps the defensive line up high. He's also the one who is likely to be the last man back. His strength is a great asset," continues Lawrenson, "you could look at him as somebody who could cope with the physicality of the Premiership but he's also very comfortable on the ball as all of the Barcelona players are.

"I'd imagine too," he concludes, "that he is the sort of player who is a big figure in the dressingroom."

His influence there and on the pitch will be crucial tonight.