Kevin Trapp (7-8-1990, Merzig) has an appointment with his ghosts today. “I imagine that the man did not have a good memory of that night,” Rafael Yuste, vice president of Barça, was right to say when asked just after the Nyon draw in which the azulgrana were paired with Eintracht. And what happened specifically that night of March 8, 2017 is that Barça made the biggest comeback in the history of the Champions League. He raised the 4-0 that PSG brought from the Parc des Princes. The goalkeeper of that team coached by Unai Emery was… Kevin Trapp. His image, raising his right hand claiming Sergi Roberto was offside in the 6-1 action, while behind him Messi climbed the fence in one of the most iconic images in the history of the club, still hits him. He admits it himself.
“In Paris I spent three wonderful years. There is only one game that I try not to remember, the one at the Camp Nou with PSG. The problem is that everyone talks to me about the same thing. I’ve been trying to forget for years, but I always remember it,” Trapp, a competitor of Ter Stegen in Flick’s Germany, recently declared, where both have the eternal Neuer ahead of them. This Wednesday, however, he showed himself more whole: “What happened five years ago, happened. It’s a challenge to play here. We’ll suffer, but I think we can win.”
Trapp’s career at PSG ended that night 6-1. Probably unfair. After three seasons, he returned to Eintracht. First, on loan and, a year later, officially transferred for seven million euros. Before he had time to demonstrate his values. During the summer of 2018, before his return to Frankfurt was finalized, he shared a dressing room in Paris with Buffon. The first thing Trapp did was give him the number one number. “Thank you very much to Kevin and to those who allow me to still get emotional,” Gigi said then.
Trapp returned to the Camp Nou yesterday to give a press conference. He would surely look out onto the field later. In Gol Sud he conceded two goals. In the North, four. One from Messi, two from a captivating Neymar that night, of whom he was later a partner in Paris; and that of Sergi Roberto, the only Barça goalscorer in the one that is still in the squad. Trapp has a date with his ghost tonight, but there is nothing better than facing them to get rid of them.