Òscar Mingueza, a life at Barça

More or less as far back as his footballing memories go, Òscar Mingueza has been at FC Barcelona. The Catalan was but a small kid when he entered La Masia and on November 24 he was rewarded for all that hard work with his first ever senior appearance. And he did a fine job at centre back in the 4-0 demolition of Dynamo Kyiv. An example for so many young footballers to look up to!

U10 origins

Born on 13 May 1999 in the Catalan town of Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Òscar Mingueza has been wearing blaugrana since 2007, when he was just eight years old. He has since played at every single level, something only Carles Aleñá, Sergi Samper and Martí Riverola have done before him.

“I have matured as a player, especially at Barça B”, he said last May in an interview with Barça TV, where he was joined by his sister Ari Mingueza, currently playing in the women’s B team and also a bright prospect for the future.

Youth champions

Shortly before joining the men’s reserves, Óscar was part of the team that won the UEFA Youth League, which until he made his first team debut had undoubtedly been the crowning moment of his footballing journey.

Coached by García Pimienta, he excelled with his solid defending combined with a sublimely brilliant understanding of the special Barça style as his team, with the likes of Iñaki Peña, Riqui Puig and Abel Ruiz alongside him, beat Chelsea 3-0 in the final.

Barça B captain

In 2018/19, he joined the B team, appearing in 15 games in his debut season, and 19 the year after, including the promotional playoffs. This 2020/21 season he has been named one of the four team captains.

He has proven extremely versatile in defence. He may be right-footed but he has shown that he can play just as well on the left, as well as in the centre. 

Not only is he a fine player, but he also has Barça in his heart. He supports the club with a passion and he has already spent the best part of his life here. And he could not have wished for a better debut. His performance against Dynamo was impeccable. He made all the right tackles, he even assisted one of the goals, and his passing accuracy of 93.5% belied the fact that his was his first ever experience at the very highest level. He made it look like he had been playing Champions League football all his life. What a night … And what a player!