Andoni Zubizarreta: The Reliable Custodian of Barcelona's Dream Team

For the best part of a decade, Andoni Zubizarreta formed the dependable, unflinching figure between the sticks for Barcelona as the club reached untold heights under the legendary stewardship of Johan Cruyff.

Yet, had the goalkeeper affectionately known as 'Zubi' had his way, he never would have joined Barcelona, instead determined to stay at one of their fiercest rivals of the time.

Barcelona first tried to sign Zubizarreta when he was a promising 18-year-old with Alaves, only to be gazumped by the side which would practically become their antithesis, Athletic Club.

The same summer Zubizarreta was promoted to first team duties at Athletic marked the arrival of Javier Clemente as head coach. Clemente - a fierce, outspoken former Athletic player - constructed a team founded on a physical and pragmatic approach which sparked an enmity with the traditionally more aesthetically pleasing Barcelona.

The Basque-born Zubizarreta was a near ever-present in each of his five seasons in red and white as Athletic, never dipping below fourth, claimed two La Liga titles. Between making his top flight debut in 1981 and his final match for Athletic half a decade later, Zubizarreta played 169 of the club's 170 league games. (The only one he missed was a 3-0 defeat to Sevilla.)

In the summer of 1986, with the World Cup in Mexico fast approaching, Zubizarreta was keen to confirm his immediate future and, in an ideal world, extend his stay at San Mames with an improved contract. However, Barcelona rekindled their attempts to lure him away. As a report from the Spanish publication El Pais claimed at the time: "Zubizarreta...wanted to remain at Athletic at all costs and was willing to continue for half of what Barça offered him."

In the end, with Athletic unwilling to meet his salary demands, the economics spoke for themselves. Spain's number one, six years after their first approach, finally joined Barcelona.

Cruyff first exerted a revolutionary effect on Barcelona as a player in the 1970s, inspiring the Catalans to their first title in 14 years. A decade later he returned to revolutionise the club as manager.

Following his appointment in 1988, everyone at Barcelona was forced to adapt. Yet, having spent half a decade in Clemente's Athletic, and in a position as fundamental as goalkeeper, few were subjected to as much upheaval as Zubizarreta.

Cruyff insisted that his goalkeepers were comfortable not only coming off their line to sweep behind the defence, but adept with the ball at their feet. This was decidedly not Zubizarreta’s game.

At Athletic, Clemente - who is widely credited with coining the term 'tiki-taka' as a disparaging comment - was more closely associated with 'patapun y p'arriba', 'bish-bosh, up it goes'. Zubizarreta was honest when he acknowledged his own skillset having played in this system for so long, describing himself as a 'serious, reliable type of keeper'.

In order to make him more comfortable, Cruyff played him in midfield during training session. However, rather than a teaching method, Zubizarreta viewed this as a form of punishment or humiliation, telling Movistar (via Marca) in 2018: "When Johan would put the goalkeepers in the rondo [a piggy-in-the-middle passing exercise] during pre-season, I thought he mostly did it to embarrass and bully me.

"It was clear he was trying to put me in a drill in which I could not succeed, in order to show he needed someone new." Zubizarreta added: "There was never any type of recognition from Cruyff in his interviews, or words of praise, about myself."

Nevertheless, Zubizarreta's unparalleled technical excellence ensured he was scarcely left out of the side as Cruyff's Barcelona, winning four consecutive La Liga titles and the club's first ever European Cup between 1991 and 1994, became known as 'the Dream Team'.

Fittingly, the day the dream of that side died marked Zubizarreta's final match in the colours of Barcelona.

Just four days after sealing their fourth consecutive league crown, Barcelona played Fabio Capello's Milan side in the 1994 Champions League final. As the unfancied Rossoneri mercilessly routed their overly confident opponents 4-0, Zubizarreta described the occasion as 'the worst night of my career'.

It would get worse after the final whistle.

Zubizarreta’s contract ended that summer and for the vast majority of the season he had been assured of a new deal. Yet, the Barcelona president at the time, Joan Gaspart, kept avoiding the topic and by the final the writing was on the wall. As Barcelona’s coach neared the airport, Zubizarreta was told that his time in Catalonia was over, leaving his teammate Pep Guardiola in tears.

Eight years after desperately trying to avoid a move to Barcelona, Zubizarreta could scarcely envisage a future anywhere else. He would go on to spend another four seasons in the top flight with Valencia - earning a clean sheet on his first return to the Camp Nou - but the 'serious, reliable' Zubizarreta will forever by synonymous with Barcelona and that era-defining side.