What became of… Bakero

Previously… José María Bakero was a midfielder who spent 17 seasons in the Liga BBVA at Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona. He made 483 appearances in the competition, scoring 139 times. His most prolific campaign in front of goal came in 1987-88, his final year at Real Sociedad, when he found the net on 17 occasions.

His achievements… Bakero boasts a pretty complete medal collection from his playing days. While at Real Sociedad – where he featured in 220 games and scored 67 goals in the Liga BBVA – he won two league championships, one Copa del Rey and a Spanish Super Cup. At FC Barcelona, he claimed four Liga BBVA titles, two Copas del Rey, one European Cup, two UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups, one UEFA Super Cup and four Spanish Super Cups.

After hanging up his boots… He remained involved in football after retiring, working as an assistant to Lorenzo Serra Ferrer and Louis Van Gaal at FC Barcelona. He then began his career as a head coach, experiencing stints at Málaga CF B and Real Sociedad before moving to Poland for spells in charge at Polonia Warsaw and Lech Poznan. He is currently boss at Peruvian outfit Club Juan Aurich.

Did you know… Bakero is remembered for the goal he scored against Kaiserslautern to take FC Barcelona into the third-round group stage of the 1991-92 European Cup, on their way to lifting the trophy. Having earned a 2-0 victory in the sides’ second-round first leg, Barça were trailing 3-0 in the return in Germany when his last-gasp header won the tie for the Catalans.