Release of ‘The 9’ documentary with Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry is the star of the latest episode of 'The 9’ series of documentaries, in which he looks back at his biggest career highlights. The latest Barça Studios production begins at a key moment of his career, when as an Arsenal player he faced FC Barcelona in the Champions League Final in Paris in 2006. He goes on to analyse his arrival at Barça in 2007/08. He needed time to adapt to his new adventure, but by 2009 he was lifting the Champions League trophy in Rome, the year the team enjoyed unprecedented success under Pep Guardiola

The documentary goes out today exclusively on Barça TV+ and is part of a series that looks at some of the greatest forwards in club history. This latest episode is available on demand in English, Spanish and Catalan.

With a running time of around 50 minutes, Henry remembers each of the different moments in his career and explains how the experience was for him. The Frenchman doesn’t hold back on his emotions, and also mentions some of the doubts and difficulties he had to overcome, and describes the moments of joy that went hand in hand with his sporting achievements. The show also speaks to some of the people that played alongside him, such as Cesc Fàbregas, who he was with at Arsenal, and Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Pedro and Gudjohnsen, who were with him at Barcelona.

He tells us how after losing the final at Saint Denis in 2006, he decided to stay for another year at Arsenal, even though a lot of people could already see him wearing the blaugrana colours. He also speaks about his arrival at Barça and how it was such a challenge to adapt to the team, and thanks coach Frank Rijkaard for continuing to have full faith in him.

Henry remembers that the first year was a difficult one, and the team didn’t win any silverware, and also having to give a guard of honour to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and going on to lose the game 4-1. “I wanted to be there” he says. “I wanted to see it with my own eyes,” as a way to tell himself that his team would win back the trophy, despite such a troubled season.

The documentary also describes the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager and what a major turning point that was for a team that would go on to make history in 2008/09, with Henry in the side that did win the Champions League. Henry remembers that he wasn’t at peak fitness going to Rome, because he’d been injured in a league game just a few weeks before, but he always knew that he wanted to be on the pitch for the final against Man United at the Stadio Olimpico.