Barcelona’s long football memory gathered at the Mooby Bosque cinema for the premiere of Running Is for Cowards, a documentary tracing Carles Rexach’s 45-year relationship with FC Barcelona and the many roles that made him one of the defining figures of the club’s modern history.
The venue could barely contain the turnout for “Charly”, whose connection with Barça began in the youth ranks as a boy and extended through a career as a first-team winger, youth coach, assistant coach, manager, sporting director, scouting chief and presidential adviser.
Produced by Mundo Deportivo in collaboration with Movistar Plus, the film is directed audiovisually by Eva Niñerola, with Santi Nolla overseeing its editorial content. It follows Rexach from his attacking days on the pitch to his influence in the coaching rooms and offices at the Camp Nou.
A Barcelona life from the wing to the boardroom
As a player, Rexach was a creative and prolific wide forward who took part in landmark nights for the Catalan club, including the 5-0 league win at Real Madrid’s Bernabéu and the European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in Basel.
His greatest collective success after retirement came alongside close friend Johan Cruyff. Rexach served as Cruyff’s trusted assistant during the Dream Team era, when Barcelona won four consecutive Spanish league titles and lifted the club’s first European Cup at Wembley in 1992, during José Luis Núñez’s presidency. Within that celebrated partnership, Rexach was remembered as the calmer, more approachable half of the coaching duo.
Later, during Joan Gaspart’s time as president, Rexach returned to prominent responsibility as both sporting director and first-team manager. One of the most memorable moments of that period came in 2001, when Barcelona secured Champions League qualification against Valencia through Rivaldo’s celebrated hat-trick.
The documentary also revisits a decision with consequences far beyond its moment: Rexach’s approval of Lionel Messi’s signing when the Argentine was 13. Messi reflects in the production on the move that changed both his own path and Barcelona’s future.
Figures from across Barça’s generations
Current Barcelona sporting vice-president Rafa Yuste attended the screening, as did former vice-president and president Joan Gaspart. The audience included former players who had either shared a dressing room with Rexach or worked under him as coach, among them José Mari Bakero, Julio Salinas, Guillermo Amor, Eusebio Sacristán and Carles Roura, all of whom feature in the film.
Ronald Koeman was unable to attend following the death of his wife. Gerard López, now a Movistar Plus analyst, was present alongside José Ramón Alexanco, Francisco “Tente” Sánchez, Alfonseda, Mora and Jofre Mateu.
One of the evening’s most personal moments came with the arrival of singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat, Rexach’s friend. The meeting brought visible emotion for the former Barcelona man, who grew up in Pedralbes, as Serrat arrived from Poble Sec.
There was also an absence felt around the room: Josep Maria Minguella, the agent who worked with Rexach on Messi’s move to Barcelona, did not attend.
Former club officials Ángel Fernández, Joan Castells, Anton Parera, Xavier Pérez Farguell, Paco Closa, Pau Vilanova and Joan Manuel Trayter were among the guests. Current directors Jaume Santiveri and Xavier Barniol attended, along with Barcelona communications director Gabriel Martínez.
Representatives of Grupo Godó and Mundo Deportivo, including Jaume Gurt, Òscar Rodríguez, Ivan Grau, Rafa López, Sergio Fernández, Lluís Foix, Màrius Carol, Toni Clapés and Aleix Parisé, completed a gathering that underlined Rexach’s standing across several Barcelona eras.
The film’s portrait is of a man who helped shape the club in almost every capacity available to him — from the touchline at the Bernabéu and Wembley to the judgment that brought a young Messi from Argentina to Catalonia.
