FC Barcelona have always been renowned for their great attacking and midfield talents. Heralded for their technical greats, La Blaugrana has always been seen as a club that is primarily offensive-minded. However, as many who have followed the club know, Barcelona too have had many great defenders.
The partnership of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol is one that many fans beyond the point of 2008 will remember as well. Their legendary partnership helped Barcelona win many titles in their time. It is rather undeniable that many great teams of different eras have been marked by exceptional defensive heroics and partnerships just like theirs.
As such, it is with great excitement that Barcelona looks ahead at the coming years. Just as SPORT has highlighted, this new center-back partnership between Ronald Araujo and 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi fills up the club with a lot of hope and promise.
It is not just the fact that, with their unique characteristics and style of play, that they remind Barcelona of both Puyol and Pique. Rather, it is also the fact that they are extremely effective together as a defensive duo. In the eight games that they have started together, they have not let Barcelona taste defeat.
The first start for them together came against Real Betis, a game which Barcelona won 4-2. Two sublime goals from Isco were all that breached their partnership, but those moments of magic from opponents would gradually begin to diminish as the games went by.
Their next game, against Osasuna, was a 1-0 victory for Barcelona. Ante Budimir, one of La Liga’s finest forwards, was unable to get past the duo’s resilience. Right after that, Deportivo Alaves struggled and only managed one goal through Samu Omorodion in a 3-1 victory for Barcelona.
Then came the visit to Vigo, where Celta was again only able to score past them both once. That game ended in a, unsurprisingly, victory for Barcelona with a 2-1 scoreline. Getafe were the next victims, as they lost 4-0 to Barcelona with neither Borja Mayoral nor Mason Greenwood being able to score.
After that, Barcelona did suffer in terms of points to Athletic Club. Neither team got the three points, as a draw was all that could be managed. However, once again, not even Inaki Williams could get past Cubarsi and Araujo in a goalless stalemate.
Following that draw, Cubarsi managed to keep out Mallorca as well along with the help of Inigo Martinez. Araujo returned right afterwards, coupled with Cubarsi, but this time in the UEFA Champions League.
Napoli and Victor Osimhen seemed determined to overcome Barcelona, but neither could. Barcelona won that game 3-1 in dominant fashion, and only a breakaway goal from Amir Rrahmani gave the Italians a break.
Lastly, even Atletico Madrid and Alvaro Morata could not break through against Cubarsi and Araujo. The two defenders are expected to mark an era at the club, with the Uruguayan being 25 years old, while Cubarsi barely being of legal age even.
Many clubs would want to have these two potentially era-defining defenders, but Barcelona has no such intentions. Their future lies with La Blaugrana, and the Catalan giants know their worth.
The recent 3-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid may see the forwards get most of the praise, but neither of these two juggernauts at the back can be forgotten.
