Andrea Pirlo 'regrets' not playing in Spain

Veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo, now with New York City FC, admits that he 'regrets' having not turned out for either Real Madrid or Barcelona during his career.

Published: November 16 2016 | 14:08

Last updated: November 16 2016 | 15:35

Veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo has admitted that he 'regrets' having not turned out for either Real Madrid and Barcelona during his glittering career.

The 37-year-old was believed to be a target for the La Liga giants during his time with AC Milan, but Pirlo has claimed that the Italian giants would not allow him to leave.

The New York City FC midfielder, however, has insisted that he is "very satisfied to have played for the best teams in Italy", having represented Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus during a trophy-laden career.

"I still have a thorn in my side at not having played for Real Madrid or Barcelona, because playing there is a dream for every player," Pirlo told Marca. "But I consider myself very satisfied to have played for the best teams in Italy.

"Real Madrid? Any player would like to play for them; Fabio Capello was there and there were a lot of rumours circulating about Milan's future because of the scandal.

"Milan wouldn't let me go, and they gave me a new contract. Was I disappointed? Well it's true that unfortunately they wouldn't let me leave, but at the same time I spent 10 years at Milan, winning everything there was to win."

Pirlo, who has represented the Italian national team on 116 occasions, made the move to MLS outfit New York City in the summer of 2015.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21