‘Win as much as possible’ - Sergi Roberto’s Barcelona roots run deep, but LA Galaxy’s showdown with LAFC comes first

The midfielder will always be associated with his immense success for his hometown club, but he hasn't lost any fire in his move to Los Angeles.

Tom Hindle7 hours ago

Sergi Roberto still gets asked about that goal all the time. It is perhaps the finest day in Barcelona’s recent history. Neymar crossed, Roberto gambled, while every single PSG defender stood static. The finish was perfect.
La remontada, the overturning of a 4-0 deficit in the Champions League, was complete.
Roberto lives in Los Angeles now, and plays for LA Galaxy. That moment was a decade ago. But every day, as he walks around with his wife and kids, in a place that feels like relative anonymity compared to the buzzing furor of Barcelona, he gets stopped for selfies and asked about that goal.
"It's the craziest goal I've ever scored, for sure. That's the goal everybody remembers. Time will pass, and everybody will still remember that game," he told GOAL.
Yet that was an old version of this same player. Back then, Roberto was the La Masia kid first getting his chance for his hometown club - which he still watches every week. These days, he’s a man with a wife, kids, and house in America. Times change, careers change. Yet Roberto insists that this is where he is meant to be.
"Even while I was playing at Barcelona, I always said that I would like to play in MLS," Roberto said. "I just didn't know when it was going to happen."
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Roberto captained Barcelona and made nearly 400 appearances for the famous Spanish club
And there is logic to this journey. Los Angeles, after all, isn’t the hardest sell. Given Roberto always knew he wanted to someday suit up for a Major League Soccer club, this seems the right fit.
It comes at the right time, too. When German manager Hansi Flick arrived in Barcelona, he cleaned house. In 2024, he dubbed Roberto ‘not a player from Barca’ - a controversial sentiment given that Roberto had made nearly 400 appearances for La Blaugrana, captained them the season before, and claimed 25 major trophies.
Still, his words were indicative of change. Roberto moved to Como, where he was coached by Cesc Fabregas - a former Barca teammate. Roberto was influential in their meteoric rise, and played no small part as they clinched Champions League football following a fourth-placed finish.
That ended, too. His contract expired in June, and other opportunities beckoned.
"I had two amazing years [at Como]. But when I finished my contract, my goal was to come to MLS," he said.
Roberto was 34, and MLS was waiting. There were a few conversations to be had. But the Catalan connection with the Galaxy’s Riqui Puig, a long-time Barca teammate of Roberto’s, made the move happen.
“[Puig] only said amazing things about the club, about the league, about the city. He told me I would be very happy here,” Roberto said. "The transition was very easy here."
Puig showed Roberto the ropes. They lived together while Roberto got his house sorted. This is not the place where Roberto grew up. But if Puig and his seamless adaptation to this league - highlighted by a 2024 MLS Cup win - shows anything, it’s that the Catalans can thrive not only in Southern California but also in this league at large.
More basically, the Galaxy are a group of good lads, Roberto said.
"The team, they're a really nice group of guys - and the coach," he added.
'It's a different situation'
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Roberto has been a crucial part of a late season turnaround for the Galaxy
There tends to be plenty of mythology surrounding American sports for European players.
The culture here is different. There are a handful of major leagues here, whereas in Europe there is basically one. Antoine Griezmann, another former teammate of Roberto’s who now plays for Orlando City, has long had a fascination with basketball. Harry Kane, the presumptive favorite for the Ballon d’Or, outright said he wouldn’t mind trying his hand at the NFL.
Culturally, Roberto was a little less sure. Like many in the soccer world, he already knew a bit about basketball.
But a trip to a Los Angeles Rams game with Puig opened his eyes.
“In Europe, the NFL is not like a big sport. I think kind of no one's following that league, but since coming here, like I went to the Rams game, I liked it,” he said. Roberto might just be a fan. “I try to follow the league on TV. It’s a very tactical game, and I like that,” Roberto said.
To be sure, there are some parallels here between Roberto’s reading of the game and an NFL quarterback. He is not slinging passes or leading an offense. But Roberto patrols expertly. For the Galaxy, he has tucked in nicely in defensive midfield, playing behind the maverick Marco Reus, who suddenly has far fewer defensive responsibilities to worry about.
The intensity of the league has been immediate, too. Roberto played his first MLS game on Aug. 29.
He arrived at a club in the thick of the playoff hunt. Puig underwent a second ACL surgery in as many years at the start of the season, and has not kicked a ball this year. His return to a soccer pitch, at all, is mightily uncertain. But the Galaxy have clung on without him. Reus has provided goals and assists. Striker Joao Klauss, acquired from St. Louis in January, has returned to form and fitness, and has bagged nine goals in 10 starts. A tidy run of form - the Galaxy have lost just one out of their last six while everyone around them has dropped points - has Roberto primed to play playoff soccer in his first season in the league.
“It's a different situation. Like coming from Europe, you are at the end of the season, and then you have the summertime off, and then you imagine starting from zero in the league and everything. So coming here in the middle, fighting for the playoffs... every game has been like a final for us to get into the playoffs,” he said.
'My mind will be focused on El Trafico'
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Roberto's LA Galaxy square off against LAFC just four hours after Barcelona and Real Madrid meet in La Liga
There is a certain irony to this weekend’s slate. At 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Barcelona and Real Madrid will face off in the first Clasico of the year. Five hours later, El Trafico - the Galaxy’s fearsome rivalry with crosstown upstarts LAFC - will kick off. Was he aware of the magnitude of the latter fixture, though?
"I knew about the game, just because I have been following MLS for many years," Roberto said.
The strange timing has its positives and negatives. The good part is that Roberto has the big game experience to cope with these fixtures. A Clasico prepares you for pretty much everything.
"Players, we like to play this kind of game, coming from Europe. I had the chance to play El Clásico many, many times. It's the game that every player is expecting to play," Roberto said.
The bad part? He won’t be able to watch his beloved Barca play their biggest game of the year - at least not live. But after the game, no matter what, he will make time for it.
"My mind will be focused on El Trafico," Roberto promised. "But after we win, then I can watch El Clasico."
Perhaps that’s the perfect timing. Roberto will always be Barca first. He still makes time to watch every single game - whether live or on delay, even if he knows the score. That’s in his DNA. But his MLS move is by no means a cop out, or a retirement. He has to focus on LA Galaxy now. But he also desperately wants to. Roberto is here to win.
"People think players go to the MLS, to the States, to retire. It's not the case. I think we all come here to win. The league is getting more competitive, with the bigger players coming here, and I want to win," he added.
And after 25 trophies, 400 appearances, and that goal, it's hard to argue when Roberto backs himself.
"I don't know how many years I would be playing here, but I hope we can win as much time as possible," he said.

‘Win as much as possible’ - Sergi Roberto’s Barcelona roots run deep, but LA Galaxy’s showdown with LAFC comes first

'It's a different situation'

'My mind will be focused on El Trafico'