Any victory that FC Barcelona has enjoyed in recent times has not been the doing of any one individual. The team has come to terms with the fact that they must work together in unison to complete the objectives laid in front of them. Still, it does not hurt to admit that even Barcelona have a few individual game-changers.
Not too long ago, Hansi Flick himself hailed young Pedri as a special player who can change the tide of most games by himself whenever he is available. However, while Pedri himself was undeniably one step ahead of everyone else in the recent victory that Barcelona enjoyed, there were some others who have garnered some praise.
Pau Cubarsi, aged 17, has become one of those few standout players. While he did give away a penalty in the first half and was not exactly at his best from a defensive perspective against Athletic Club, it seems that the coach of the opposition believes he played a different kind of vital role.
As highlighted by Barça Times, Ernesto Valverde spoke about the young defender after the game and even stated that it was because of his passing quality that Athletic Club were unable to implement their game plan to thwart the home side:
“We wanted to stop Barça from playing from the back but it was almost impossible because Pau Cubarsi didn’t miss a single pass.”
Pau Cubarsi ended up completing 82 of the 88 passes he attempted in the game, giving him an impressive completion rate of 93%. Ultimately, what matters most is the win that Barcelona now have in the bag, and youngsters like Cubarsi continue to grow into even better players as each game passes.
Even aside from Cubarsi, Valverde made sure to highlight and praise the qualities of Lamine Yamal. In fact, the former Barcelona coach even went as far as to compare the young La Masia pearl to football icon and Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi.
