Heartbreak might be an overused word in football, tagged on to every last minute defeat, relegation or omission from a squad list.
Real Madrid and Spain defender Nacho will tell you he knows what it really means.
‘I was about 12 years old and had been at Real Madrid for a couple of years. It was a dream come true for a young boy to play in that shirt,’ he says.
Real Madrid and Spain defender Nacho understand what the word heartbreak really means
Nacho was 12 when he was diagnosed with diabetes and told he could no longer play football
‘I was about to go off and play a tournament with Real Madrid but I didn’t feel right.
‘I had this constant need to pee and I was drinking lots and lots of water. My mother was worried because the tournament I was about to play in meant that I was going to be away for five days.
‘She decided to call the hospital. They carried out some tests and my blood sugar levels were through the roof. I was diagnosed with (type 1) Diabetes.
‘It was really tough. On the Friday the doctor that I saw told me that there was no way I could go on playing football. Imagine any 12-year-old kid being told that. It was awful. I went home and had a horrible weekend.’
It was 2002 and as well as playing in the club’s boys’ teams, Nacho was a Madrid fan who idolised Fernando Hierro and Zinedine Zidane.
His dream of following Zidane into the first team had been crushed but the heartbreak would be short-lived.
He was playing in Real Madrid’s boys’ teams at the time he was delivered the news
Another different doctor, Dr Ramirez, told Nacho sport was the most important thing for him
‘On the Monday I went back into the hospital and I saw a different doctor, Dr Ramirez,’ he explains, and there is warmth in his voice when he says that second doctor’s name.
‘I was so happy because he said that the opposite was true. He said that sport was the most important thing for me and I had to carry on playing and competing.
‘It wasn’t true that my condition meant I couldn’t be a sportsman. And here I am still fighting.’
Nine years later Jose Mourinho gave him his Real Madrid debut. Zidane is now his manager. He’s on his way to Kiev for his third European Cup final and then off to Russia with the Spain.
The 28-year-old may be Madrid’s ‘fifth’ defender but many supporters would have him in the team. He is one of their own. They idolise him as the anti-galactico who still lives in the Madrid town of Alcala de Henares where he grew up and not in a gated millionaires-only neighbourhood.
Nacho grew up idolising Zinedine Zidane and dreamt of following him into the first-team
If he does start on the bench on Saturday there will be no devastation. After being told he would never have a career, he’s just happy to be here. Happy to have proved a player can cope with Diabetes and still reach the top.
‘Diabetes doesn’t mean as a young kid you can’t have a normal life and practising sport is the most important thing in combating it,’ he says.
‘I have to give myself injections every day and I have to take care with food and drink that have a high sugar level. But sport for a person with diabetes is fundamental.’
When his debut came, it was Mourinho who gave it to him. He says: ‘I’ve only got good things to say about Mourinho. It’s not true that he doesn’t give young players a chance. He gave my brother Alex (now at Cadiz) his debut too, before me. In our family there is a lot of love for Mourinho.’
Nacho’s progression is not just an example for kids with medical conditions, he is also a beacon for homegrown players.
‘The canteranos (youth-team graduates) can be the soul of the club. Madrid is a difficult club to break through at because they have always had the best players. But the presence of homegrown players alongside the superstars has been fundamental.’
Zidane will hope that combination can deliver against Liverpool on Saturday night.
‘They have three spectacular players up front,’ says Nacho. ‘They are quick and they score goals. They will make it difficult but we have the defenders to deal with the threat.’
Nine years after the diagnosis Nacho was handed his Real Madrid debut by Jose Mourinho
He has become a crowd favourite at the Bernabeu and successfully shackled Neymar this year
His home town of Alcala de Henares is 20 miles east of Madrid.
‘I’ve been there all my life and I’m happy there. My family and my friends are there,’ he says. ‘I play in the Real Madrid first team and that can’t not change things and you do get noticed but I always try to just live a normal life.
‘I still go out with my friends for a drink in the centre of town, I still go out with my wife and kids but I realise what goes with that. But I’m happy and grounded there.’
Should more footballers follow his example and live among the people that watch them play? Barcelona goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen has made headlines recently for choosing to live in one of the city’s regular neighbourhoods.
‘Things have changed,’ says Nacho diplomatically. ‘Before not every phone had a camera on it. There were no social media.
Nacho has been studying part-time to become a sports teacher as something to fall back on
‘It’s more difficult now. Now you walk down the street and anyone can come up to you and ask for a photograph.
‘That didn’t happen before. A lot has changed. I’m one of those players still trying to have a normal life. Football is what it is thanks to the people so we have to accept that too.’
For years Nacho has been studying part-time to become a sports teacher. Something to fall back on just in case the career goes wrong.
‘I’m still in the process of finishing,’ it he says. ‘I haven’t got much more left to do but I have been at it for quite a few years now.
‘Since I was a kid my parents drummed it into me that it was important to study. I’ve always been able to combine it with my career well.
He is now heading into his third Champions League final and first ever World Cup appearance