Antonio Barragán’s Liverpool career lasted a little over ten minutes, on an August night in Bulgaria less than three months after Istanbul. He never played for the first team again.
But the teenage right-back Rafa Benítez prised away from Sevilla went on to play more than 350 games, win a European title with Spain, spend five years at Valencia and score in the win that ended Real Madrid’s 22-game winning run. Not bad for a one-game Red.
The one Sevilla let slip
Barragán came through the youth ranks at Sevilla and was highly rated there. In June 2005, aged 18 and yet to play for their first team, he turned down professional terms and chose Liverpool instead.
Sevilla were far from happy. Liverpool had spent six months working on the move, and Sevilla’s sporting director, Monchi, said the club had tried to keep him.
He also conceded that the FIFA rules on young players without professional contracts had often worked in Sevilla’s favour. This time, Liverpool had used them. A compensation fee was agreed, and Barragán joined in July 2005.
He arrived at a club that had just been crowned champions of Europe, to add competition at right-back for Steve Finnan and Josemi.
A debut in Sofia
Liverpool’s defence of the European Cup began in the qualifying rounds, and on 10 August 2005 they were at the national stadium in Sofia for the first leg of the third qualifying round against CSKA.
It was Steven Gerrard’s night. He set up all three goals: Djibril Cissé put Liverpool ahead, Fernando Morientes headed in a Gerrard free-kick and, after Velizar Dimitrov had pulled one back just before half-time, Morientes turned in his second just before the hour.
With a little over ten minutes left, Benítez took Morientes off and sent on the 18-year-old Spaniard for his debut. Liverpool saw out a 3-1 win, and although CSKA won the second leg 1-0 at Anfield, the Reds went through 3-2 on aggregate.
A year in the shadows
That turned out to be Barragán’s one and only first-team appearance. The rest of his time at Liverpool was spent in the reserves, a long way from the bright lights of the Champions League.
His best moment of that year came in a Spain shirt. In July 2006 he was part of the side that won the European Under-19 Championship in Poland, alongside the likes of Gerard Piqué and Juan Mata.
He started the final in Poznań, where two second-half goals from Alberto Bueno beat Scotland 2-1. He was still a Liverpool player when Spain lifted the trophy, but within a week he was gone.
Home to La Liga
In August 2006, Deportivo La Coruña signed him in a deal worth €1m. Liverpool kept the right to buy him back after two or three years, but they never used it.
He made a bright start, opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad at the Riazor on 1 October 2006. Then, in April 2008, he suffered a serious knee injury against Osasuna. He was fit again by the following September, but Deportivo had left him out of their squad when the season started, and the dispute ended up in court before he was released from his contract.
He rebuilt his career at Real Valladolid, who were relegated in his first season there, and in August 2011 he got his big move, to Valencia.
Five years at Mestalla
Valencia finished third in La Liga in his first season, which meant Champions League football, and Barragán stayed for five years, battling for the right-back spot.
In March 2014 he found himself back at the national stadium in Sofia, where Ludogorets had taken their Europa League tie. Used further forward, on the right of midfield, he thumped a low shot in from outside the box after five minutes, his first goal for Valencia, in a 3-0 win.
His most famous goal came on 4 January 2015 at Mestalla. Real Madrid arrived on a run of 22 straight wins and led through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, but early in the second half Barragán’s deflected shot brought Valencia level. Nicolás Otamendi headed the winner, and Madrid’s run was over.
It was his first league goal since his Deportivo days.
Back in England
In July 2016, ten years after leaving Anfield, he returned to England, signing a three-year deal with newly promoted Middlesbrough.
On 14 December 2016 he started against Liverpool at the Riverside, where Adam Lallana scored twice and Divock Origi added another in a 3-0 win for Jürgen Klopp’s side. Boro were relegated at the end of the season, and Barragán headed home again.
Betis, Elche and a new career
He joined Real Betis, first on loan in 2017 and then permanently a year later, and helped them reach the Europa League in his first season. After spells there and at Elche, he announced his retirement in February 2023.
He did not stay away from the game for long. He joined Elche’s sporting department that spring, and he has since gone back to Betis, where he is now an assistant coach with Betis Deportivo, the club’s reserve side.
Once a Red
Antonio Barragán will never be more than a footnote in Liverpool’s history: one substitute appearance, a little over ten minutes, in a qualifier most supporters have long forgotten.
But he arrived as a promising young full-back and went on to build a long career that took him from La Liga to the Premier League, with a European title for Spain along the way. For one night in Sofia, the kid from Sevilla’s academy was part of the champions of Europe, and that is something nobody can take away from him.
