Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti (born 19 December 1951), known as Migueli, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Migueli
Migueli with Barcelona in 1977
Personal information
Full name Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti
Date of birth (1951-12-19) 19 December 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth Ceuta, Spain
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
O'Donnell
Cádiz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1973 Cádiz 77 (4)
1973–1988 Barcelona 391 (20)
Total 468 (24)
International career
1975–1976 Spain amateur 2 (0)
1974–1980 Spain 32 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A player of immense physical power – he was nicknamed Tarzan[1][2]– he was best known for his Barcelona spell, which lasted almost 20 professional years.

Migueli appeared with the Spain national team at the 1978 World Cup and Euro 1980.

Club career edit

Migueli was born in Ceuta. After playing with Cádiz CF from 1970 to 1973, competing in the Segunda División, he transferred to La Liga giants FC Barcelona, where he became an undisputed starter after just one league game in his first year, going on to play 391 matches in the competition (549 overall, club's all-time best until 5 January 2011, when Xavi surpassed him in a Copa del Rey match against Athletic Bilbao);[3][4] whilst he was performing his compulsory military service in Cádiz he made his official debut for the latter, and upon his return, not aware that he needed two special permits to leave the headquarters, he was jailed for one month.[5]

In the final of the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Migueli played parts of the match, which went to extra time, with a broken collarbone, in an eventual 4–3 win.[6][7] In the 1986–87 season, already well into his 30s, he still managed to make 41 appearances – 38 complete – and retired at the end of the following campaign, in which he added another domestic cup.

Subsequently, Migueli worked with the Catalan club's coaching staffs in the Joan Gaspart presidency. On 17 September 2010, he was chosen by new chairman Sandro Rosell as sporting advisor alongside Josep Maria Fusté and Carles Rexach.[8]

International career edit

Migueli earned 32 caps and scored one goal for Spain, his debut coming on 20 November 1974 in a 2–1 win in Scotland for the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers.[9] He represented the nation at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1980, for a total of four appearances.[10]

Career statistics edit

Club edit

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other[a] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cádiz 1971–72 30 0 2 1 32 1
1972–73 37 4 3 0 40 4
Total 67 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 72 5
Barcelona 1973–74 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1974–75 29 2 4 0 6 0 39 2
1975–76 34 5 5 0 9 1 48 6
1976–77 25 1 1 0 7 0 33 1
1977–78 33 2 6 1 10 1 49 4
1978–79 28 0 2 0 9 1 39 1
1979–80 31 2 2 1 7 0 40 3
1980–81 20 3 6 1 2 0 28 4
1981–82 3 0 1 0 2 0 6 0
1982–83 31 1 6 0 6 0 6 0 49 1
1983–84 30 0 7 0 3 1 2 0 42 1
1984–85 32 4 8 0 1 0 4 0 44 4
1985–86 29 0 5 0 9 0 1 0 44 0
1986–87 41 0 0 0 8 0 49 0
1987–88 24 0 7 0 6 0 37 0
Total 391 20 60 3 85 4 13 0 549 27
Career total 458 24 64 4 85 4 13 0 620 32

International edit

Score and result list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Migueli goal.
International goal scored by Migueli
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 April 1980 El Molinón, Gijón, Spain   Czechoslovakia 1–1 2–2 Friendly[10]

Honours edit

Barcelona

Individual

Notes edit

References edit

  1. ^ «Si creemos, pasamos» ("If we believe, we will pass"); El Mundo, 6 March 2007 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ "Rafa Nadal y Jorge Lorenzo, protagonistas de las dos portadas de ICON SPORT" [Rafa Nadal and Jorge Lorenzo, protagonists of the two ICON SPORT covers] (in Spanish). El País. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. ^ Sólo Migueli supera ya a Xavi (Only Migueli in front of Xavi now) Archived 29 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine; Mundo Deportivo, 16 February 2009 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Xavi y Migueli, los otros protagonistas (Xavi and Migueli, the other protagonists); FC Barcelona, 2 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ "El día de mi debut acabé en el calabozo" ("I was sent to the dungeons the day of my debut"); Diario AS, 2 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ 4–3: La Recopa para el Barça tras una final memorable (4–3: Cup Winners' Cup to Barça after memorable final); Mundo Deportivo, 17 May 1979 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Migueli, ingresado tras sufrir un infarto (Migueli, in hospital after suffering heart attack); El Mundo, 2 August 2004 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ "Rexach, Migueli y Fusté serán asesores deportivos del Barça" [Rexach, Migueli and Fusté will be sporting advisors at Barça] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  9. ^ 1–2: Triunfo memorable en Hampden Park (1–2: Memorable win at Hampden Park); Mundo Deportivo, 21 November 1974 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ a b Miguel Bernardo Bianqueti, ‘Migueli’ – International Matches; at RSSSF
  11. ^ "Spain – Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

External links edit