Personal Information
Full Name | Marc Bartra Aregall |
Date of Birth | January 15, 1991 |
Nationality | Spanish |
Height | 1.84m |
Role | Defender |
Past Team(s) |
Marc Bartra: A Brief Biography
Marc Bartra Biography
Marc Bartra Aregall is a Spanish professional footballer, who plays as a centre-back for his national side Spain and La Liga side, Real Betis. He was born on 15th January 1991 at Sant Jaume dels Domenys, Spain. The right-footed footballer occasionally plays in the right-back position.
Bartra was regarded as one of the most promising centre-back during his early days, but lack of chance and several injuries have impeded his career.
Background
Bartra moved to FC Barcelona’s La Masia Academy from RCD Espanyol at the age of 12. He started representing Barcelona youth teams in 2007 before promoted to the Spanish Giant’s B side in 2009.
Pep Guardiola handed out the centre back his senior team debut in the 61st minute against Atlético Madrid in February 2010 at the Vicente Calderón. In the next season, he swiped between the senior and the B side. He got lucky when he consolidated his place in the senior side due to Puyol and Mascherano’s injury. He featured in 16 matches in 2012-13.
Bartra represented Spanish side at different age levels from Under-18 to Under-21. He played a key role as Spain was runners-up in the 2010 European Under-19 Championship. Bartra scored converted a penalty in the shoot-out in a quarter-final defeat against Brazil in the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup apart from providing an assist in a 4-1 win against Costa Rica.
Debut
Bartra played the entire match in his maiden senior team international cap against Equatorial Guinea in November 2013 in Guinea.
Rise to Glory
Bartra appeared in 30 matches under Tito Vilanova in the 2013-14 season. He netted a brilliantly-headed equaliser in the 68 minute in the Copa Del Rey final defeat against Real Madrid in April 2014.
Low Points
Bartra got very limited opportunities for the La Roja due to the presence of Puyol-Pique at the central defence. Although Puyol retired from international football in 2014, Bartra could not seal his spot as Sergio Ramos partnered with Pique to guard the Spanish Armada.
He featured only 22 minutes in his second match in the European qualifier against Macedonia after a gap of a year in September 2014. He spent entire 2016 European Championship on the bench.
Club Career
Bartra appeared in 101 matches for Barcelona senior team in his six-year term at Camp Nou. He won five La Ligas, two UEFA Champions Leagues, two Copa Del Rey trophies with the Spanish giants.
The Spaniard joined Borussia Dortmund at a reported amount of €8 million in July 2016. When he started to firm his hold on the German side, he was injured in a bomb explosion near the Dortmund team bus prior to UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash against Monaco in April 2017. He underwent a surgery on a broken bone for getting hit with shrapnel.
A month later, he celebrated his comeback in the final Bundesliga encounter against Werder Bremen in May 2017. He won DFB Pokal with the Dortmund side in 2017. He played 49 competitive matches for Dortmund before penning a five and half years contract with Real Betis in January 2018.