"[7] His defensive teammates at L'OL included François Clerc, Grégory Coupet and Anthony Réveillère, as well as Brazilian internationals Caçapa and Cris.

[8][9] On 10 November 2004, Abidal scored the first goal of his career, in a 3–2 loss at former club Lille in the second round of the Coupe de la Ligue.

[12] On 29 June 2007, Abidal signed a four-year contract with FC Barcelona for €9 million, after repeatedly stating that he would not return to training with Lyon if he was not allowed to move.

[14] Abidal made his La Liga debut on 26 August 2007 in a 0–0 away draw against Racing de Santander,[15][16] and ended his first season with 30 games as Barça finished in third place in the league.

[17] He missed the 2009 Champions League Final against Manchester United after picking up a red card in the semi-final against Chelsea: the referee deemed Abidal to have fouled countryman Nicolas Anelka and denying a scoring opportunity, although video evidence suggested that any contact was minimal;[18] again through suspension[19] he also did not dress up for the decisive match of the Copa del Rey,[20] as the team won the treble.

[22] On 18 January 2012, Abidal scored his second goal for Barcelona, also in the domestic cup, helping the visitors come from behind to win it 2–1 at Real Madrid (eventually 4–3 on aggregate).

[31][32] During Barcelona's match with Getafe CF on 19 March 2011, the fans at the stadium clapped for the entire 22nd minute (Abidal's kit number).

[33] On 28 May 2011, in the Champions League Final against Manchester United, he played the full 90 minutes of Barcelona's 3–1 triumph and, in a gesture to mark his recovery, Carles Puyol handed him his captain's armband and allowed him to be the first to lift the trophy in front of 85,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London.

[36] On the same day Barcelona beat Getafe 4–0, and the victory was dedicated to the player in the post-game press conference;[37][38] he later revealed that his friend and teammate Dani Alves offered to donate part of his liver for the transplant, but he declined because it would have affected the latter's playing career.

[7][56] He was selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, playing all the games and minutes in the country's runner-up campaign as left-back, with the exception of the match against Togo, from which he was suspended[57] after earning two yellow cards in the first two fixtures.

[61] He played against Uruguay and Mexico in the 2010 World Cup again as stopper,[62][63] opting out of the next game against host country South Africa[64] as the French side again left the competition after only three matches.