Samuel Umtiti's ordeal is over. After a season without playing a single minute for Lille and not finding a team, the French centre-back, who touched the sky in 2018 with the World Cup, bids farewell to the pitch at the age of 31 (he will turn 32 on November 14). He did so with a video in which he appears at the Olympique Lyonnais stadium, the headquarters club, as he reviews his career. In the video, posted on Instagram, he speaks in French and is subtitled in English and Catalan. "In Catalonia, I've learned a lot, but I've also discovered a side of football that no one is really prepared for," he says, referring to the place where his career began to decline due to injuries. It was precisely knee problems that caused Umtiti to fold. His last match was on January 21, 2024: 90 minutes in the Coupe de France with a 1-0 victory at Racing Club de France. 603 days later, he announced the end of his sporting career.

Barça is more than just a club. That's what its motto says, and that's what it tries to convey through its sections. But beyond basketball, handball, indoor soccer, and roller hockey, there are the amateur sections. One of these disciplines in which the Blaugrana team triumphs is athletics. At the last Spanish Championships, held at the beginning of August in Tarragona, the Catalan club won a total of four medals: Héctor Santos (gold in the long jump), Bernat Erta (gold in the 400 meters), Carmen Rosales (bronze in the long jump), and Pablo Sánchez-Valladares (bronze). These medals, beyond their sporting prowess, hide stories of overcoming challenges.