The Barça goalkeeper who will swap knee pads for a lab coat

BarcelonaThree games. That is what separates Barça hockey from their 23rd European Cup. Two years later, the Catalans will once again play in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Blaugranas will face Sporting of Portugal, in a single match, this Thursday (8 PM) in the final eight that will be played in Coimbra (Portugal). The Blaugranas have not lifted this title since the 2017-18 season. "We arrive very motivated. We are aware that it will be complicated, but it is a good opportunity to return to a European Cup semi-final and we will fight for it," explains to ARA the goalkeeper Carles Grau (Lloret de Mar, 1990). The native of Selva will seek in Portugal the only title he is missing to complete an admirable record. "We have lost three Champions League finals, but at least I have been able to play them. I don't want to dwell on it, but if we can achieve the title this week, much better," he explains.

Grau left the blaugrana academy, where he coincided with Edu Castro, who was also his coach at the Catalan team when he returned to the Palau after playing for clubs like Liceo or Porto. “The demands at Barça are maximum and we have to perform to try to win all the titles and all the games. I am very happy with the treatment we receive and we cannot complain. We have all the means to compete and be at the level of the Portuguese teams”, he assures. However, in Portugal there is increasingly more investment in hockey, as demonstrated by playing – for the eighth consecutive year – the Champions League final phase in Lusitanian territory. “Before it was the other way around, the Catalan teams and Liceo dominated; now it seems more the Portuguese. It would be good to bring the final phase to Catalonia, it would be exciting to compete it with our people”, confesses the goalkeeper. 

“The main difference between Spain and Portugal is that there are several teams there that can win the league, while here the group of title contenders is smaller, but there isn't that much difference”, states Grau, who adds that he hopes everything goes smoothly: “We have to have luck on our side to win a title and we hope this year will be ours”.

From the goal to the pharmacy

Carles Grau is the solution to all problems. In goal for Barça, he prevents goals from rivals, while in the future he wants to prevent infections for people at the pharmacy his mother has in Lloret. “I studied for my degree when I was at Barça in my first spell. I'm happy to have a career for when hockey ends and to continue with a more or less established life,” says the Barça goalkeeper, who is already a pharmacist and admits that as soon as he stops playing, he will swap his stick for a lab coat.

He is the eldest of four brothers, Lluís –now retired–, Àlex –who plays for Maçanet–, and Marc –with whom he shares a dressing room at Barça–. All four have always been clear that they had to combine sport with a career. “If you play for Barça you can make a living from hockey, but when it ends you have to have something more. If not, it's impossible, we are not footballers”, recalls Carles. Lluís is a physiotherapist and osteopath, while Àlex and Marc –they are twins– have pursued a career in dentistry. “I have shared a dressing room with Marc for seven years, first at Liceo and now at Barça. If he does something wrong, you have more confidence to tell him than someone else. Between the two of us, we form that close-knit group to try to be better players every day”, says the eldest brother.

The goalkeeper emphasizes that he is a family man. “My son also plays hockey and I will go to see him train in Lloret now”, he explains. Grau continues to come every day from Blanes, a town near his hometown, but in all this time he has never lost the desire to continue winning titles. “When you stop being ambitious, your level drops and it would be impossible to compete. Everything I have achieved, I have earned. I have been ambitious and I will continue to be so until the last day I stand in goal”, he concludes.