The summer of 2005 was a good time to be connected with Liverpool.
Fresh from the euphoric highs of the ‘Miracle in Istanbul’, things were feeling good on the red half of Merseyside. Rafa Benitez was elevated to a god-like status at Anfield, and it was the same for the group of players who helped bring home Liverpool’s fifth European Cup.
For new players walking into that dressing room, it may have been a daunting task. Even so, it was one that Benitez thought was possible for one young full-back.
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Just a few weeks after Liverpool’s win in Turkey, they signed full-back Antonio Barragan from Sevilla, paying the Spanish club around £240,000. At just 18 years old, the young defender was tipped for a bright future in the game - could he flourish at Anfield?
Mere weeks into his time at Liverpool, Barragan was quickly handed his senior debut. On this day in 2005, he appeared in the Reds’ Champions League third qualifying round first leg away at CSKA Sofia.
He came on in the 78th minute as Liverpool won 3-1 in Bulgaria. A brace from Fernando Morientes and a Djibril Cisse goal secured the win for Benitez’s side.
In doing this, Barragan broke a record which many players would be proud to hold. By playing in this match, he became Liverpool's youngster player ever in the Champions League.
It was a record which lasted more than 15 years, until it was broken in December 2020. Billy Koumetio came off the bench, like the Spaniard before him, in Liverpool's 1-1 draw with FC Midtjylland to break Barragan's record.
To make your debut for Liverpool as an 18-year-old would have been a memorable experience. To do it in the Champions League, for a club who are holders of the trophy, made it even more special.
When he arrived at the club, Barragan was not the only Spanish player in the squad. As well as manager Benitez, there were also the likes of Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia, Josemi and Morientes. These would help the then-teenager settle into life on Merseyside.
"There are a few Spanish players at Liverpool and it does help you settle in better as they speak your language," Barragan told Liverpool’s club website back in 2005. "I really like the city of Liverpool, it is a nice place. I am staying with a lovely family who have made me very welcome and I am really enjoying it."
Barragan’s fellow Spaniard, Garcia, was impressed with what he saw from Liverpool’s newest recruit. Having arrived from Spain himself at a relatively young age, Garcia knew the sort of pressure that the defender would be under.
"He [Barragan] doesn't seem too overwhelmed about moving to such a big club in a new country at such an early age," Garcia said in 2005. "I've heard he's very highly-rated back home. In training he's looked very impressive."
However, that night against Sofia would end up being Barragan’s one and only first-team appearance for Liverpool. Instead, he would spend the rest of the 2005/06 season playing for the reserves.
Then-reserve team manager Hugh McAuley was impressed with Barragan. The full-back often found the back of the net, including the winning goal against Wolves in the FA Premier Reserve League in a 2-1 win in September 2005.
"Antonio [Barragan] played very well and he has good pace and is quality on the ball down the right hand side," McAuley said during the 2005/06 season. "He is scoring goals as well which is a real bonus for us."
However, after just a single season on Merseyside, Barragan was heading back to Spain. A permanent move to Deportivo La Coruna was completed in the summer of 2006, with Liverpool banking around £675,000 which represented nearly a 300% profit on a player who spent one year at the club with just a single appearance to his name.
Since leaving Liverpool, Barragan enjoyed a largely successful time in his homeland. Spells at Deportivo and Valencia would follow, with the latter seeing him earn headlines for both the right and wrong reasons.
Barragan was at Valencia during Gary Neville's ill-fated spell in charge in 2016. February 7 of that year will live long in the memory for both Barragan and Neville for the wrong reasons.
That was the day that Valencia suffered a humiliating 7-0 loss to Barcelona in the first leg of a Copa del Rey semi-final. Barragan started for Valencia that day at the Nou Camp, and ended up getting on the wrong side of Neymar and starting a feud between the pair.
With the score 3-0 to Barca at half time, it was claimed in Spanish newspapers that Barragan asked Neymar out of professional courtesy if he could stop trying to embarrass Valencia, who were down to 10 men after Shkodran Mustafi's red card. This led to an unusual reaction from Neymar.
The Brazilian supposedly shrugged, smiled and reminded Barragan that he should "shut up... I earn ten times more than you." These were not words that Barragan took too kindly to.
While that cup tie was over, there was a league match the two clubs would need to play later that season. In April 2016, Valencia met Barcelona again with Barragan once again tasked with dealing with Neymar, and this time the former Liverpool star came out on top, with Barca losing 2-1 and Neymar failing to score.
This is where the feud comes in. Neymar was left far from happy with both his treatment at the hands of his rival and the result, and Barragan could not resist poking fun at the Brazilian. After the full-time whistle, Neymar accosted Barragan from behind, whose response was "what's wrong? So today you're not full of dancing or insults?"
The Brazilian appeared to slap the former Liverpool man and reports in Spain later suggested that he'd thrown a water bottle at the defender in the summer. Whatever happened, Barragan wouldn't remain in Spain much longer.
The summer of 2016 saw Barragan join Middlesbrough fresh from their promotion to the Premier League. Even then-manager Aitor Karanka remarked on Barragan’s stint at Liverpool as being an influence on his decision to sign the defender.
"I am really pleased he has signed,” Karanka told his club's official website. “He is a player we know a lot about and he is a good addition to the squad.
"He is a good lad, and he has played a lot of games for Valencia. He knows this country as well because he was at Liverpool as a young player. He is a good signing for us."
However, his one and only season as a Boro player didn't see him do too much in terms of contributions to the team. Unless you include one statistic which Barragan won't be proud of.
In the 2016/17 season, Barragan committed 10 foul throws. To put this into context, this was more than the goals scored by Boro's top scorer Alvaro Negredo, who found the back of the net nine times that season.
Barragan would eventually leave Boro to move back to Spain with Real Betis in 2018 on a permanent deal, a year after spending a season on loan. Another move to Elche would follow in 2020, and just this summer he was released at the age of 35 and is currently without a club.
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