In 1973 he gained international fame by signing for FC Barcelona forming a historic attacking duo with the Dutch star Johan Cruyff winning the Spanish Primera División in his first season after 14 years of drought for the Catalan club.

That night he played alongside other South American figures such as Rivellino, Fernando Morena, Miguel Brindisi, Víctor Espárrago, Teófilo Cubillas and others.

On a continental level, he won the Copa América in 1975, where he scored the only goal of the final match against Colombia, giving the Inca team the title of Champions of America.

Sotil has been one of the most popular athletes in his country, to the point that in 1972, he starred in a film directed by Bernardo Batievsky (his great admirer) entitled Cholo.

Sotil also played and scored the opening goal in an all-star match between Europe and South America in 1973 at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.

In 1973, Sotil moved to FC Barcelona of Spain, where he was teammate of the stars Johan Cruyff, Juan Manuel Asensi and Carles Rexach, among others.

He made his debut for Barça on 22 August,[6] winning the Joan Gamper Trophy after beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–2 in penalties (2–2 in normal time), with Sotil scoring the opening goal.

Sotil was part of the team which demolished Real Madrid 5–0 in the Spanish League game played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, where he scored the fifth goal.

By then, he was one of the Spanish League's most recognized players Barcelona's hiring of Dutchman Johan Neeskens, who took a foreigner slot, resulted in his relegation from the first team in the 1974–75 season.

He also played as attacking midfielder and was a great assistant of football, due to the large number of goal passes he offered to his teammates.

[10] On 20 December 2024, Sotil was hospitalized in Lima under intensive care after experiencing septic shock due to multiple organ failure.