FC Barcelona Joan Laporta was in Madrid to pay his last respects to Paco Gento (1933-2022) who died on Tuesday at the age of 88. The Real Madrid legend and honorary president of the club was the only player to won six European Cups (between 1956 and 1966) and played 600 games for his club plus 43 for Spain, including two World Cups.
Laporta was joined by Enric Masip and the Barça director for women’s football Xavier Puig in representation of the Catalan club at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he was welcomed by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.
Laporta on Gento
Speaking to Real Madrid TV, Laporta said “we want to express our condolences to the Real Madrid family on the passing of Gento. Apart from his talent as a player, he is also a gentleman who I had the pleasure of meeting. I learned a lot from him about the right way to approach a rivalry between two teams as big as FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He was very down-to-earth man.”
“He was the classic winger with great skill and very quick. He was a natural winger. The forward line he formed alongside Puskas and Di Stèfano set the standard in world football.”
