Valdes spoke on the Barça TV programme ‘El Marcador’ following the win over Villarreal in which he equalled Andoni Zubizarreta’s number of appearances.

With 410 games under his belt , Víctor Valdés will shortly become the keeper who has played most games for the Club. For Valdes, Zubi has always been an example to follow and he revealed the ex-keeper has congratulated him personally for equalling his record: “I’m so proud of that. Since my debut I have always asked Angel Mur to tell me about Zubi and his stats. He’s always been a reference point for me and I’ve always tried to live up to his example”.

Paris a turning point

Valdes expressed himself “happy on a personal and collective level” for the win over Villarreal and stressed: “it was important to make a good start to the league campaign. The keeper also explained that playing behind a three man defence was nothing new: “we try out a lot of different systems in training, so we have done that before”.

Víctor Valdés also spoke of the importance of the 2006 Champions League Final in Paris for his career, a game he reckons was his best ever: “without that final I would maybe not be the Barça keeper today”.

Plenty more seasons left

Finally, Valdes made it clear that he plans to break even more records: “410 games is something to feel proud of and also to keep building on with hard work. I think I still have a few seasons left in me and I have the idea that I’d certainly like to play till I’m 36 – I try and look after myself and take care to keep fit and be at my best every day”.