FC Barcelona managed to come away from the Coliseum Alfonso Perez with only one point from their opening La Liga fixture of the 2023/2024 season against a Getafe side drilled to disrupt Barca’s football as much as possible.
In an otherwise scoreless game full of dull encounters across the field, Xavi Hernandez introduced a catalyst within the game that would go on to provide both elegant creativity as well as allow Barcelona to create distortions in the rather rigid Getafe defense.
As highlighted by Spanish outlet SPORT, it was 16-year-old Lamine Yamal who ended up coming to the rescue of FC Barcelona and the coach’s decisions to turn towards him in a time of need before turning to the likes of Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres remains very telling.
The young gem seems to have the regard of Xavi Hernandez as an outlet that the coach will continue to rely on, and his performance against Getafe was a testament to exactly why he remains trusted by the Barcelona coaching staff.
His exquisite passes, in particular to Pedri and then later Ansu Fati, created openings that arguably deserved better from the recipients and from the subsequent plays that followed. His unnerving dribbling prowess also managed to keep the Getafe defenders rather fearful of whatever his next move might be, creating much more space for Barcelona to operate.
Despite the scoreline at the end of the game, it is no exaggeration to say that in a game against an opposition as disruptive and vicious as Getafe, the 16-year-old Barcelona academy product provided a great display that measures talent well beyond his years.
Moreover, Xavi Hernandez’s decision to rely on him and the timing of it showcases the coach’s dependence on meritocracy rather than seniority or any other factor, which is exactly why the 16-year-old Barcelona gem found himself on the field before the introduction of his senior teammates.
