Bartomeu: 'We have lost a good man and a great FC Barcelona figure"

Josep Maria Bartomeu remembers fondly one of his predecessors, Agustí Montal i Costa, who passed away this Wednesday at the age of 82. The current FC Barcelona president defined the man who presided over the Club between 1969 and 1977 as “a great man and an extraordinary FC Barcelona man.” He continued: “Agustí Montal played an important role in a difficult moment in history, not just at the Club but in the country.”

“He led Barça during the final years of Franco and at the beginning of the transition [to democracy],” recalled Bartomeu before adding: “He converted Camp Nou into a space for freedom where members could express their ideas.”

The man who now occupies the position that Montal once held remembered the important legacy left by the former president in the modern history of FC Barcelona. "We will remember him as the president during the 75th anniversary [of the Club] who fought to preserve the Catalan language and he was also the president who brought Johan Cruyff to Barcelona, the man who changed the mentality at the Club and who gave us the style that defines us,” said Bartomeu.

The president also remembered Agustí Montal “giving his support to the team until the very last. We experienced together the comeback against Paris Saint-Germain. He concluded: “We will miss his values, his warmth and his advice.”

President Bartomeu then announced that on Friday a space dedicated to the memory of Agustí Montal i Costa would be opened up at Camp Nou to allow people to pay tribute to the man and say their final goodbye.