25 years since Puyol's first goal

Puyol scored his first goal for Barcelona on 11 November 2001 against Valladolid at Camp Nou, a powerful strike in the 19th minute that made it 2-0 in a 4-0 win.

Carles Puyol marked his debut as a Barcelona goalscorer on 11 November 2001 at Camp Nou, aged just 23. Playing against Valladolid in a La Liga fixture, the defender struck in the 19th minute to make it 2-0, finishing a well-worked move with Saviola with a powerful shot into the top corner past goalkeeper Ricardo. Barcelona won 4-0, with Saviola adding two more and Kluivert converting a penalty.

Puyol's performance earned widespread praise. After the match, he reflected on his rare goal: "It's my first official goal, but the most important thing was to win. My teammates aren't used to me scoring and that's why they congratulated me." He explained his decision to shoot rather than pass: "I could have squared it but I preferred to shoot hard, it's better."

The victory moved Barcelona to second place in the table, one point behind leaders Deportivo. Puyol would go on to score just one more goal in his Barcelona career, nearly 13 years later against Almería, also at Camp Nou.