Sergi Roberto has now played everywhere... except in goal

Sergi Roberto has been a professional for 10 years now. His first steps were made with Barça B. On Sept. 21, 2009, he made his debut as a 17-year-old under Luis Enrique as a left-sided central midfielder. He came on at half-time against CF Gava for Luque and contributed to a 3-1 win, with Gai Assulin and Jonathan Soriano on target. 

Under Luis Enrique, he's played in all sorts of positions. It's a versatility that has seen him play in every position, in fact, apart from in goal. 

Against Granada at the weekend, he played on the right side of a back three. It's a situation which Luis Enrique had foreseen, even if he wasn't the one to activate it in the end. "Sergi could play as a centre-back," Lucho once said. "He's already played as a false nine...  apart from in goal, he can play anywhere." 

A '9' UNDER GARCÍA PIMIENTA

The Spain coach knew perfectly well that Sergi Roberto had moved back from the attack, where he played for Juvenil B under Javier Garcia Pimienta. In the 2008-09 season, he was the top scorer in the Liga Nacional with 20 goals, showing he was much more than just a conventional midfielder. 

One year later, now with Barça B aged 17, he was basically a central midfielder, until he had the chance to debut for the first team in the Champions League against Real Madrid. He came on for David Villa at the end of the semifinal tie, playing as a left winger. It's a role he's played less often than others. 

He's played on right wing with more frequency. One of his best games was in November 2015 at the Santiago Bernabeu. With Lionel Messi on the bench on his way back from an injury, Luis Enrique put him in front of Dani Alves and he excelled. He caused Marcelo all sorts of problems and set up Luis Suarez for a goal. 

MOVING TO FULL-BACK 

Before converting to a full-back, he mostly played as a central-midfielder, even as a defensive midfielder. In March 2015, he had one of his best games in front of the defence at Ipurua against Eibar. 

His career, however, took a turn at the start of the 2015-16 campaign. An injury to Alves at San Mames opened the door at right-back and he consolidated his place there and earned the position for himself when Alves left the following summer. 

Since then, his performances have also seen him fill in at left-back from time to time. Once again under Luis Enrique, he made his first left-back appearance in a Copa del Rey game at Athletic Bilbao on Jan. 20, 2016. He kept Iñaki Williams quiet. 

There were no more position changes until Sunday, when Setien used him as one of his three centre-backs. His excellence on the ball and his good positioning are arguments for keeping him there. Sergi Roberto can do it all. Maybe one day he will even get a go in goal.