A Riqui Puig Exclusive
Ahead of the MLS season kickoff, the LA Galaxy #10 talks facing off against his old Barcelona teammates and what Leo Messi is like in training.
The MLS season kicks off this evening when Inter Miami hosts Real Salt Lake at the DRV PNK Stadium, and only silverware will suffice in 2024 for a Vice City squad featuring Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suárez. The ex-Barcelona quartet have won just about everything together except—yes—the MLS Cup. They’ve faced more fearsome Reals than this one, to be sure, and the opening match is really a prelude to the avalanche of fixtures this weekend that will signal the North American season has rumbled into life.
On Saturday night, Messi and Miami are in action again as they head out to Dignity Health Sports Park to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy and a onetime teammate from back in Catalunya. Riqui Puig joined Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy in 2013 and traced the path to the first team that Messi, Busquets, and many more traveled before him. But after nearly 60 appearances in the famous blue-and-red kit, Barça head coach Xavi—also a La Masia graduate—informed Puig in May 2022 that he was not part of his plans for the following season.
That August, a 22-year-old Puig sealed a move to Los Angeles to become a midfield lynchpin for the club that David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimović once called home. A decent first season was followed by a poor showing from the Galaxy in 2023, but the club are hoping for a fresh start this term and so is Puig. He’s taken the #10 shirt for this season and will pull it on for a first competitive match when his old Blaugrana teammates come to town wearing Miami pink.
I caught up with Puig earlier this month at Galaxy HQ to discuss that prospect and more in the interview below edited for length and clarity.
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La Masia—the culture there is legendary. Was there a moment where you realized what you were a part of? You arrived there when Xavi and Iniesta were doing their thing.
It’s true. Xavi, Iniesta, Messi—I think I grew up with the best Barcelona in history. When people here ask about La Masia and what type of feeling it was to play in that team, I always say I was lucky.
Around your age, a little younger, you had Pedri, Gavi, all these guys. There’s such a culture of attacking midfielders and that really technical game. What is it there [at La Masia] that they produce so many players—what is the magic sauce?