It was March 12, 2016 when Barcelona were last forced to call on Thomas Vermaelen in La Liga.

On that night the former Arsenal captain appeared for 29 minutes in a 6-0 thrashing of Getafe.

To find his last completed 90 minutes of league action for the Blaugrana, you must go back a further two months, to January 9, when he played the entirety of a 4-0 win over Granada.

Last season brought just three completed 90 minute outings, and only four league starts during a loan spell at Italian side Roma.

Back at Camp Nou for 2017-18, the 32-year-old is down the order under Ernesto Valverde, one Copa del Rey appearance all he has to show for the opening four months of the campaign - against Segunda Division B side Murcia.

But with Gerard Pique absent through suspension and Javier Mascherano suffering from a hamstring injury, Vermaelen was called upon for his first La Liga start in 624 days.

Vermaelen last played in La Liga over 600 days previously (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

That he has become, if not a joke then a punchline, is quite the shame.

A 63-cap Belgian international, a player of considerable pedigree having come through the system at Ajax and subsequently played for Arsenal, Barca and Roma.

After a £10million move to the Emirates, his first season (2009-10) was outstanding, Vermaelen proving to be a decisive, cultured, bargain. In that campaign, he was the Premier League’s best centre-half, deservedly named in the PFA Team of the Year (alongside Aston Villa’s Richard Dunne).

At 25, it should have been the platform from which he could build to become one of the world’s best defenders. Instead, an Achilles injury suffered on international duty at the start of the 2010-11 season put Vermaelen on a different path, and he has never looked the same player since.

Vermaelen was once on course to be one of the world's very best (
Image:
Julian Finney)
Unveiled by Barcelona in 2014 (
Image:
Getty)

Barcelona shelled out £15million to sign him in 2014, and this was only his 12th league outing for the club.

Perhaps somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, in an alternate universe where there is no injury hell, Thomas Vermaelen is set to go down in history as one of his generation’s finest.

But in this universe, Vermaelen is one of football’s nearly men; a player who could have been a key player for one of Europe’s best, he is instead fourth choice, playing simply because he’s the only option.

He started to the left of Samuel Umtiti and was a solid presence throughout the opening 45 minutes against Valencia; comfortable in possession, he read the game well, won his headers when necessary and made a couple of smart challenges, getting the better of the battle with Rodrigo.

Vermaelen gets up to win a header in the Valencia box (
Image:
AFP/Getty Images)

However, on the hour mark, in that moment when he was most needed, the rustiness of not playing and a body that has all too often let him down saw Vermaelen found wanting.

As Valencia’s play built down the left with Goncalo Guedes and Jose Gaya, Vermaelen’s positioning was fine: he had both the ball and Rodrigo in his sights, his body position and looked in control.

But as Gaya hit the touchline, Rodrigo took a step away and as Vermaelen reacted, the Spanish striker was quicker off the mark, getting in front to turn home from close range; from being well positioned, Vermaelen was a yard-and-a-half behind.

Whether it was a problem of brain or body, only Vermaelen knows. But as he stood motionless for about 3-4 seconds, standing above Marc-Andre ter Stegen it was hard not to feel for him. In a game where the margins were razor thin, he had been at fault.

Rodrigo races away to celebrate (
Image:
REUTERS)
Rodrigo celebrates his goal (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

For the rest of the night, as he visibly tired but was less well-protected by a Barca side pushing for an equaliser, he stood his ground. Sure, he needed the covering speed and mobility of the excellent Umtiti on one occasion but he held firm and didn't buckle, particularly as a clever, direct counter-attacking home unit searched for a second.

In the end, Jordi Alba's volley, sculpted by a brilliant Lionel Messi pass, earned the Catalans a point, keeping them unbeaten (as are, still, their hosts).

Barcelona celebrate Jordi Alba's equaliser (
Image:
David Ramos)

Largely, on his return to league action, Vermaelen was a solid presence, playing his part in keeping Barcelona unbeaten in what was their toughest game of the season so far.

But with Pique set to return from suspension and Mascherano working back to fitness also, Vermaelen will now fade into the background, heading back into storage until Valverde needs to break the glass once more.

We shouldn't mourn a player who plies his trade for one of Spain's big two, working with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at close quarters, at a level the rest of us can barely imagine.

But on a night where Vermaelen made his return after so long, you can't help but wonder what might have been.

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