Several players shone as FC Barcelona got a 2-4 win against Real Betis in their last La Liga match. However, this match will be remembered most dearly by Pau Cubarsi, as it was his first start with the Barcelona first-team.
The convincing win that Barcelona got and his own highly impressive outing could not have come at a better time for the La Masia defender.
This is the case because, as Mundo Deportivo notes, Cubarsi is celebrating his 17th birthday today, and could not have asked for a better gift than the one he got last night.
The center-back had to leave the pitch after 81 minutes because of cramps, after having played the game at a very high pace. However, by the time he left the pitch, he was already the player with one of the highest number of touches on the ball (69), surpassed only by Gundogan (127), Frenkie de Jong (118), and Jules Kounde (74).
Furthermore, Cubarsi played a very clean game and did not give away even a single foul. He also came out unscathed from two very dangerous one-on-one situations.
Despite these impressive stats, it was his passing that really stood out last night. He had 93.5% of his passes completed successfully and was the clear leader of the team in this aspect.
Four of his passes took the ball to the final third of the pitch, and in this aspect, he registered a 100% success rate, greater than Frenkie’s 86.4% and Gundogan’s 81.8%.
To achieve such an impressive number in an environment as difficult as that of Benito Villamarin at only 16 years of age was definitely a dream first start for the defender.
Now turning 17 years of age, Cubarsi can dream of celebrating many more birthdays with Barcelona if he keeps on putting similar performances in the matches to come.
