Ubal: “Someone must do the dirty work at Barça and, if that happens to me, I embrace it”

The Uruguayan international Agustín Ubal (Montevideo, 2003) has returned this summer to Barça with one goal: to earn a place in the rotation of the renewed Barça project and to do this, as he explains in an interview with EFE, he is prepared to do “the dirty work” that allows his teammates to shine.

“For me this year is a challenge. Maybe I don’t have many minutes, but the club expects energy, character and defensive versatility from me. Many like to score, but not everything is pretty. In a team like Barça someone has to do the dirty work and, if that happens to me, I embrace it. I know that if I work hard and perform when it’s my turn, I will have opportunities. That’s my mentality,” says the outsider.

He always wanted to return to Barça

Ubal begins its second stage in the Catalan capital. landed like a promise of 16 years in 2019 and came to debut with the seniors in 2021but, without space in the first team, he left to gain experience in the Endesa League: he had a chain of assignments in Lugo, Bilbao and Palencia, before ending up in Granada and Manresa, where he averaged 9.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19 minutes.

After recording his best numbers in the Spanish championship, the Uruguayan wanted to “take another leap” and join a Euroleague team, but he admits that he did not expect the call from Barça.

“I would never have imagined it, because for me it is the greatest. As soon as it arrived, I accepted. I didn’t think about it. There were other things, but Barça always has priority because it is the club of my dreams,” he remarks.

Away from Palau BlaugranaUbal says that he “never lost hope” of returning to what he considers his “home”, Barcelona: “I am very stubborn and ambitious. I thought that perhaps it was not the time and I should be patient. I worked to death for four years because I wanted to have one more opportunity at the club. I always dreamed of returning and it ended up happening.”

Ubal’s third mutation: from point guard to defensive forward

In his short career, the Uruguayan has experienced three mutations. “I came to Barça as a scorer, but they saw me as a tall point guard and that helped me improve my understanding of the game. It was in Palencia that, due to an injury, they tried me as a forward, I played well and I stayed there. I also played as a shooting guard, I like both more now than the point guard, although I can do everything. I became more versatile,” he reflects.

Adapting to survive professional basketball, a change focused, above all, on defense: “When I left Barça I didn’t really like defending and now I love it. It’s a habit that I picked up, because I knew that if I defended well I would have more minutes. I can cover the three outside positions. Perhaps without being excellent at anything, I try to do many things well that perhaps others cannot.”

In this process, Ubal believes that he has changed “the way of working on the court”, “the mentality to receive and act according to the situations that happen”, and the way of taking care of himself off the court.

Comfortable with Sekulic’s fast style

He also believes that the system of his new coach, Aleksander Sekulic, is reminiscent of the one that allowed him to “score a lot” last season in Manresa. “We are going to play a fast style and I feel very comfortable playing on an open court. A game with little system and reading of the moment,” he analyzes.

In addition to the coach, Barça has a new sports director and eleven players, four of them without experience in Europe. Ubal, however, says that there is “a lot of humility in the locker room,” that the Americans want to “learn as soon as possible and get involved, also in the country,” and he trusts that it will be “easy for them to adapt” due to their “talent and quality.”

About the current status of the team within the Euroleagueresponds that the physique and the style of play “fit perfectly” with the competition, and that “the important thing is to get among those at the top and try to surprise” in the Final Four.

And he does not hesitate when setting the objectives of the course: “Collectively, win titles. In a club like this you have to achieve it to consider a good season. On an individual level, trying to earn a place in the rotation, being reliable, would be an important step in my career.”