FC Barcelona has had many problems this year: injuries, lack of intensity, lack of goals, etc. Despite all this, the club’s biggest problem this season is the defence.
The Catalan club has conceded 34 goals in the first 28 league games of the season. A figure that shows the fragility in defence this season, which is even more worrying when you consider that last season they conceded only 20 goals in the whole league. That’s a difference of 14 more goals with ten games still to play.
After Xavi announced that he was leaving the club at the end of the season, Barcelona have had a substantial improvement in play with five wins and three draws. The biggest change has been mainly in defence, as the team still struggles to score goals in attack. This improvement in defence has nothing to do with the resignation of Xavi, but rather with the consolidation of Pau Cubarsí at the heart of the defence.
Since the defeat to Villarreal, Pau Cubarsí has established himself as a permanent fixture in the centre of defence and his level has been more than outstanding. It is no coincidence that since then Barça have conceded just five goals in seven games, keeping four clean sheets (the last three games in a row).
The 17-year-old centre-back is wowing all the Blaugrana fans, who see him as the future leader of Barça’s defence alongside Araújo. In what we have seen of the two of them together, they are two players who complement each other perfectly. Araújo is more physical and practically impassable, and Cubarsí is more elegant and has a better foot.
It is precisely his good foot that attracts so much attention to Cubarsí. The youngster has a glove, which means he hardly misses a pass. In the last game against Mallorca, he had a 93% pass accuracy rate. Watching Cubarsí with the ball at his feet gives enormous confidence, because he is able to get the ball to anyone.
Despite being 17 years old and having only made 11 appearances for the first team, Pau Cubarsí behaves like a veteran on the pitch. In addition to his good ball control, he is a very complete centre-back.
Although he isn’t very physical for his young age (he is 1.82m tall), Pau is a player who is a very good cutter and who isn’t afraid to go into the fray. Proof of this can be seen in the duels he won against Muriqi, who is a physically privileged player.
This Tuesday at 21:00, Barça host Napoli in the most important game of the season so far, as they are playing for a place in the quarter finals. In the first leg, Cubarsí didn’t play due to his inexperience in this type of high-pressure environment. With what he has shown in these few games, all the fans want the young centre-back to start, as he is a sure thing in defence.
For the moment, his great performances have already caught the attention of national coach Luis de la Fuente, who has included him in the squad for the next international break. We will have to keep a close eye on the young FC Barcelona youth player because if he continues with this projection, he could become a player of the epoch and give a lot of joy to the Culés.
Main image: @FCBarcelona_es.
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