Paris's Bradley Barcola on his heroes, his upbringing and the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Dortmund
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
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Ahead of the semi-finals, the 21-year-old forward reveals his UEFA Champions League childhood idol and outs the main joker in the Paris dressing room.
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Signed from Lyon in the summer, 21-year-old forward Bradley Barcola is part of a new generation of talent thriving in the UEFA Champions League at Paris Saint-Germain, along with the likes of Warren Zaïre-Emery, Lucas Beraldo and Nuno Mendes.
Taking cues from team-mates Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, Barcola has been getting regular minutes from coach Luis Enrique, and scored his first Champions League goal against Real Sociedad in the round of 16, then played a key role in his side's decisive 4-1 success at Barcelona in the quarter-finals. As his side prepare to visit Dortmund in the last four, he talked through his story so far.
On facing Dortmund in the semi-finals
We've already played them twice this season, and we know they're a really good team, so we will prepare and train well for these two matches in order to give everything we've got and hopefully get the win.
On watching the Champions League as a child
I've always enjoyed watching [the finals], seeing the emotions that it brings to the winning team. It has always been my goal [to win the Champions League]. What's the first final I remember watching? I think it was Real [Madrid] versus Atlético de Madrid [in 2014], when [Sergio] Ramos scored a header in the last minute [to take the game into extra time].
My favourite player? For me, especially in this competition, it was Cristiano Ronaldo. It's mostly his mentality of never giving up and working hard. I think that's what has left the greatest mark on me and has driven me to be where I am today. I've always worked hard and had the right mentality, so that's really what I've taken from him.
On settling in at Paris
I'm not someone who speaks a lot, so I was very calm when I first arrived. I told myself that if Paris signed me, it was because I was worth something. I told myself that I would play my own game on the pitch and we would see what happens. Honestly, I was very well received. They would talk to me, ask me how things were going, if I liked Paris. It went well.
You can only get better when you train with [players like Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé]. Off the field, we have a right laugh together. They are older, but at the same time they are quite like us [younger players] too; they're young at heart. Ousmane is a massive tease. You can do the smallest of things wrong and he will make fun of it. Even when you score, he will tease you about it, but that's fine.
On his role in eliminating Barcelona in the quarter-finals
At the time, I thought it was the most important game [of my career so far]. It was an incredible two legs. Was there a lot of pressure when I knew I would start the second leg? Not really, it was exactly the same. I trained in the same way, without any pressure. I took it easy. I told myself that I would play my way, as always. I was really focused when I stepped out onto the pitch, and in the end everything went well, so I was very happy.
We knew it would be hard going to play in Barcelona, so winning 4-1 was really incredible. It was amazing. Watching this match, you could tell it was a great one. Both teams played really well, and we knew it would be a historic moment at the end of the game.
