The azulgrana is fashionable. barca and I raisedwho face each other this Saturday (12:15), are the only teams that have managed to score the first six points at the start of the First Futsal Federation. Two seasons ago, they disputed the league title, which ended up falling to the Catalan side. “I showed that I could be that type of player, important. In my first year, we lost the league on penalties. That was my intention when I left”, remembers the Barcelonan Roger Serranoin his second season in Valencia after four years in the first team of his city, with which he has a lifelong relationship. “I have been a member since I was born. I am 31 years old… well, 31 years as a member. It is always special to play against Barça, but I have already played many times against them. On the track, what you want is to win and you don’t look at anything else. I have a lot of friends there. When the game is over, we will hug each other, but hopefully the three points will stay at home, ”she warns firmly.
This summer, without going any further, he met several of his former teammates. “I have a lot of relationship with Dídac (Plana), Adolfo, Sergio (Lozano) or Dyego. Let’s talk. I met with Dídac and Adolfo and, also, with the delegate, Julio, and the press officer, Jordi, with whom I have a close relationship and I talk regularly”, he reveals to AS. He fell in love with futsal at the age of five, on the way to school, in the neighborhood of Grace. Holding her mother’s hand, from a bridge, she saw several boys playing a sport that, at that time, she didn’t even know what it was called. He was good at it. And she had fun, with talent, but also mischievously. In children, he scored several goals taking from the center of the field: a teammate lifted the ball and he, with force, volleyed. He had what it took to train in the lower categories of Barça, in which he experienced promotion to the Second Division, already with the subsidiary (2010).
From there, after a double stint in Navarra, where he matured “suddenly” into the Catalan first team, with two memories above the rest. “I keep the goal in the league final against Inter. It was a very nice moment, but, in two minutes, Ricardinho managed to make it less so. I drew and, with three minutes to go, he made us lose the title (2017). I stay with that moment and with the league we won at home against ElPozo (2019) ”, he explains. In his opinion, in terms of players, no team comes close to the power shown by Jesús Velasco’s team. “They are way above the rest. At most, Sporting CP can be approached, and not so much by names as by the way they compete. By players, by far, Barça is the best. I know because I have played with most of them… and they are very good”, he analyzes. Despite this, after a double training session, he is confident in Levante’s chances to lead alone. “Anything can happen and, even more so, playing at home. Last season, in the Champions League, we went with that illusion and we got a good post (2-9), but we will try to compete. We have experienced people who know how to play in this type of situation”, she extols.
A strengthened illusion
At Levante, with Sergio Mullor as the new coach, intensity and aggressiveness are not negotiated. “I feel comfortable with it,” says Roger, who has always stood out for his competitiveness, even in front of his little brother, Sergi, now at Terrassa FC, with whom, during the confinement, he was itching at home. The goals for the season are clear. “Not winning against Barça would not be a failure, because they are the best team in the world”, he insists, “but getting a good result would tell us that we should look up. If we lose, we will continue working to compete in the Cup and Play-off, which are the goals we have set for ourselves. With all the changes we’ve had, We must discover our possibilities. In addition, we have a complicated schedule. Now, we have Barça, Palma and Jaén, three of the best teams in the league”, he closes. At the moment, all at his height or below.
