In this early phase of the season, Inigo Martinez is proving to be an indispensable piece for Hansi Flick. The Barcelona center-back has started all the games played by the Blaugranes this season and was only substituted out in one of these games, against Villarreal in the 81st minute.
He is currently one of the leaders of Hansi Flick’s backline, especially as other experienced players like Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen are currently out with long-term injuries. Only after last night’s match against Getafe, Flick singled him out for special praise, highlighting his leadership qualities.
The former Athletic Club defender was expected to be rested for this game against the Madrid-based side but ended up starting this game as well as he ensured Flick that he was feeling well.
As Mundo Deportivo has noted, this decision ended up being a rather good one as the Spaniard had an excellent game last night. With this performance, he has become the player with the most completed passes in La Liga, as he had 452 completed passes out of 492. The Girona center-back Daley Blind stands second with 450 successful passes from 491 attempts.
His performance in the match against Getafe in particular was also commendable. He completed 102 passes from 117 total touches on the ball, which turns out to be more than the whole of the Getafe team was able to achieve, as the visitors could only complete 92 passes in total.
Furthermore, it was not only the quantity of his passes that stood out, as some of his passes were also very effective from an offensive point of view. His diagonal passes picking out Lamine Yamal and Jules Kounde and his through balls inside were instrumental for Barcelona’s attacking build-up on the night.
However, this was still not a perfect match for Martinez, as he also received a knock in the latter parts of the game. All the substitutions had already been made, so he had to play through pain, but his involvement in the next Barcelona match is not at risk for now.
