FC Barcelona are blessed to have some of the finest talents in the world thanks to La Masia and two of the biggest ones at their disposal are Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi. The two 17-year-olds are already very important to the first team.
Yamal needs no introduction to his plaudits. He has already showcased his quality at the biggest stage in the recently concluded European Championship and is one of the team’s most consistent performers week in and week out.
Pau Cubarsi on the other hand came out of nowhere into the Barcelona first team. When Xavi Hernandez gave the youngster a chance, days shy of his 16th birthday, no one realized the kind of impact the Spanish youngster was set to have.
Cubarsi is almost a cheat code when it comes to playing out of the back. The talented youngster almost always finds his intended target and his passing range is exceptional as evidenced by his assist to Raphinha against Real Valladolid.
Former Barcelona defender and club legend Gerard Pique, in a recent interview with Mundo Deportivo, also discussed the club’s young talents and highlighted one aspect of Lamine Yamal and Cubarsi’s game that impresses him the most. Here is what he had to say about the 17-year-old defender:
“I think Cubarsi already showed last year that he can start many games and do very well. I would say that the maturity with which he approaches the games and obviously the talent he has is surprising.”
Continuing on the same trajectory, here is what Pique had to say about Lamine Yamal’s game:
“I think what is most surprising, just like with Cubarsi, is the maturity with which he comes out onto the pitch. For being a winger, who normally likes to face one-on-one, he knows very well how to choose each situation. If he sees that he is outnumbered, he protects the ball, if he sees that he can face it, he faces it, he scores…”
Nowhere in the world of football do you see 17-year-olds play with as much confidence and maturity as Lamine and Cubarsi do at Barcelona. It’s safe to already say that the former is the team’s most important attacker and the latter is their most important defender.
What Yamal and Cubarsi are doing week in and week out for Barcelona is extraordinary. Fans can only hope that the duo continues performing at this level for years to come. Let’s see how Yamal and Cubarsi’s careers pan out going forward.
