On This Day: Happy birthday to you, Barca & Spain 'born leader' Carles Puyol

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (April 13th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, feel free to post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 1978, 'Born leader' Carles Puyol was born

Carles Puyol Saforcada is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. Mainly a central defender, he could also play on either flank, mostly as a right-back, and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation.

He was Barcelona's captain from August 2004 until his retirement in 2014, and appeared in 593 competitive matches for the club. He won 20 honours, including six La Liga trophies and three Champions League titles.

Puyol won 100 caps for Spain, and was part of the squads that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. In the latter competition's semi-final, he scored the only goal of the game against Germany.

On this day in 2008, Steven Gerrard made his 300th Premier League appearance

Steven Gerrard is a great leader, strong in tackle, can hit the ball at ferocious speed, has good vision, scores great goals, makes brilliant passes and has it all, simply. There is no doubt that Stevie G ranks among the elite of Liverpool FC with the likes of Billy Liddell and Kenny Dalglish. 

Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Gerrard was awarded the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award in 2005, and the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. In 2009, Zinedine Zidane and Pelé said that they considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world. A versatile and well-rounded player, highly regarded for his leadership, Gerrard is the only footballer to score in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a UEFA Champions League Final, winning on each occasion.

Gerrard made his 300th Premier League appearance on 13 April 2008 in a match against Blackburn Rovers, scoring the opening goal in a game which Liverpool won 3–1, and finished the season with twenty-one goals in all competitions, surpassing his total from the 2006–07 season.

Gerrard returned to Liverpool as coach of the under 18s, but left in May 2018 to take up his first management position with Glasgow Rangers.

On this day in 1983, Man City goalkeeper Bravo was born

Claudio Bravo Muñoz is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City and the Chile national team.

He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad in 2006, appearing in 237 official games with the latter club. Barcelona signed him for €12 million in 2014, and he won the treble and the Zamora Trophy in his first season. In the summer of 2016, he moved to Manchester City.

Bravo is Chile's second most capped player of all time, after Alexis Sánchez, with over 115 appearances since his debut in 2004, and represented the nation in two World Cups, a FIFA Confederations Cup and five Copa América tournaments. He captained his side to victory at the 2015 and 2016 editions of the latter competition.

On this day in 2014, Coutinho hit winner to seal comeback win for Liverpool vs Man City

Philippe Coutinho scored the winning goal after City had fought back from 2-0 down with a superb first-time finish from the edge of the box 12 minutes from time after a blunder from Vincent Kompany as the Reds secured their 10th win in succession.