The Kids Are Alright!
Barcelona 1-0 Mallorca - La Liga
Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0 on Friday night to move up to second in La Liga and ensure they head into the Napoli tie in a winning momentum, and it was all thanks to a couple of children.
Literally!
On the day legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama passed away, it was a fitting tribute that in classic manga fashion two children who can’t vote, drink or drive were the heroes that defied their years and amid a crowd of older, more experienced heads, led their club to an impressive victory.
We’re talking, of course, about Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi.
It’s rare that a team starts two teenagers — in fact Barcelona started three, with Marc Guiu given the chance to lead they line (they also brought a fourth, Vitor Roque, off the bench later) but rarer still that those teenagers are the keys to their side.
Not so golden oldies
With Robert Lewandowski rested ahead of Barcelona’s clash with Napoli, and with defensive god Ronald Araujo suspended and all three of the Midfield Fancy Boys out injured, Barcelona were looking a bit threadbare against Mallorca. What’s more, Mallorca were coming into this match off a successful Copa del Rey semi-final win and a victory over high-flying Girona.
You’d expect the veterans of the Barcelona XI — the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, João Cancelo, Raphinha and João Felix — to be the ones who carried the team on their back with the teens along for the ride, but it was the other way around.
Of the four veterans who started, only Cancelo really played well. João Felix was terrible, an ineffective mess showing none of the verve he began he Barcelona career with. The Portuguese is obviously saving all his sauce for next week’s trip to the Wanda Metropolitano where he will once again do battle with his former club Atlético Madrid. Either that or he’s a malcontent who can’t be relied upon for any sort of consistency. Either way, he was terrible against Mallorca.
Ilkay Gundogan felt worse, however. Of course he wasn’t, because João Felix was objectively bad and while Gundogan was also pretty terrible he did at least make some good passes and runs and was a consistent presence in Barcelona’s attack.
He just wasn’t a good presence. The German has been sensational so far this season but for whatever reason just didn’t have it against the islanders. His touch was just off. He had a great chance in the second-half after a brilliant Marc Guiu backheel but essentially just passed the ball back to the goalie. Oh, and in the first-half he missed a penalty! To be fair Predrag Rajkovic saved it (his 9th penalty save since the start of 2018/19, the highest across Europe’s top five leagues in that time) but it a terrible spot-kick quite unlike what we’re used to seeing from Gundogan.
Raphinha meanwhile was deployed in an unfamiliar interior role (he’s played it before but always in late-game sub appearances, never from the start) and while he had some positive movements, including provoking the penalty that Gundogan missed, it was notable how much Barcelona improved once he was replaced by Fermin Lopez (who, while not a teenager, is only 20 years-old). Raphinha left the field with an injury, but Xavi confirmed he should be fit to face Napoli.
Lamine Yamal aka “El Prodigi”
Of course, even if he’s fit, it’s unlikely he starts. Because Lamine Yamal is a god damn wizard. A regular Gandalf. Or maybe Harry Potter is more appropriate given his age.
Despite being just 16 years-old, Lamine Yamal has been one of Barcelona and La Liga’s most exciting players this season. Which is honestly just ridiculous. He’s 16!
During the match against Mallorca someone compared the way Barcelona are relying on Lamine Yamal for inspiration out of nowhere with how Real Madrid rely on the impetuous skill of Vini Jr. for the same. But while that is true Vini, still a young player in his own right, is seven years older than Lamine Yamal.
His youth makes his performances all the more ridiculous. He has three assists and four goals so far this season, and that fourth goal came against Mallorca — and what a goal it was! Drifting into the box in the right half-space Lamine Yamal danced around a tackle to shift the ball back onto his left foot and then, with devastating and deliriously delightful precision and predictability, bent the ball beautifully into the far top corner of the net.
That was the peak of his performance but far from the only thing he did. In fact he struck the bar with a similar shot earlier in the game (actually he forced Rajkovic to make a fantastic save and tip the ball onto the bar) and was consistently Barcelona’s most threatening player in attack. He was the match-winner, the game-changer, the MVP, the main man boy. He lifted the Blaugrana to victory.
“The first time I saw Leo Messi play, it was 21 years ago and I understood. Lamine Yamal looks like that too. I know that this club works very well with young people. If it continues like this, he will bring Barça a lot of happiness.” — Javier Aguirre
Pau Cubarsi aka “Cubaresi”
Almost equally notable to Lamine Yamal’s match-winning heroics was the fact that Barcelona kept a clean sheet. It was their third in a row after blanking Getafe and Athletic Club too, but while those clean sheets owed much to Ronald Araujo, on Friday night the Uruguayan was suspended and unable to play.
In his absence, Iñigo Martinez partnered Pau Cubarsi. And while you’d expect Iñigo to be the dominant force in defence, or maybe Jules Kounde to be coming across to cover repeatedly, neither of those things happened (albeit Kounde was once again quietly excellent at right-back).
What happened was Pau Cubarsi stood tall as the leader of Barcelona’s defence.
That’d be 17 year-old Pau Cubarsi. The centre-back who made his debut earlier this season in the last days of his 16th year on the planet. He’s a young 17!
“It is a pride that the people of the club of your life shout my name. I still can't imagine it at the Camp Nou. I will fight to make it a reality.” — Pau Cubarsi
Over in England, much has been made of Liverpool’s recent use of youngsters and how they have excelled. But Jarell Quansah is 21 years-old, Conor Bradley is 20 and further up the pitch Jayden Danns is 18.
Pau Cubarsi is a full year younger than Danns, three younger than Bradley and four than Quansah! 97 Passes isn’t downplaying the Melwood graduates; they have all performed excellently and earned every single one of their accolades, but rather highlighting how absurd it is for Pau Cubarsi to have been as good as he was considering how ridiculously young he is.
Sometimes you can get teenagers coming through in attack. Obviously not as young and as dynamically as Lamine Yamal, but we’ve seen that. A 17 year-old centre-back is a much rarer sight, due to the mental and tactical demands of playing at the back.
“Cubarsí is intelligent. He knows when to go for duels. He is spectacular. Lamine made the difference for us with the goal, but Pau has a lot of quality and character. He doesn’t look like he’s 17.” — Xavi
Pau Cubarsi strolls about the pitch like he’s been there for half decade. It’s obscene how serene Cubarsi is on the ball. Xavi had already called him the best passing defender they have and honestly, you can see why. Against Mallorca he completed 92% of his 80 passes, including 5/9 long balls. He routinely scythes teams open with his passing between the lines, looking every inch an heir to Gerard Piqué, Rafael Marquéz and Ronald Koeman.
But against Mallorca it wasn’t his passing that impressed, it was his physicality. Mallorca’s forwards Vedat Muriqi, Abdon Prats and Cyle Larin are a handful. They are big, strong and relentless — Larin is even intensely quick. In the first game between the sides Muriqi and Prats both scored goals — but on Friday night all three men were held at bay, largely by Cubarsi.
As well as Barcelona’s ball-playing centre-backs, Cubarsi also looked every inch an heir to the tough-tackling style of Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Miguel Angel Nadal! He flew into tackles against Muriqi and Larin, matching their physical effort. He threw himself to the floor with dynamic slide tackles regain possession whenever it looked like Larin would burn away and leave him in the dust.
“I always try to win every duel without fouling. I always try to play the ball.” — Pau Cubarsi
Obviously he’s not perfect, he will make mistakes; hell he’s had a few already this season. But he is 17! Seventeen! A centre-back that young should not be as well-rounded, robust and fearless as he is. They should not be so competant that Xavi has no qualms about starting him in a big match like this one.
Barcelona’s next game is the Champions League clash with Napoli. And while you’d probably expect Iñigo Martinez to partner the returning Araujo, after the dominant display he put in against Mallorca you honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Xavi opted to give Pau Cubarsi (along with Lamine Yamal) the start in what is a must-win European game for the Blaugrana.
Starting a 17 year-old and a 16 year-old in the knockout rounds of the Champions League seems like a ridiculous proposition on paper, but when that 17 year-old is Pau Cubarsi and the 16 year-old is Lamine Yamal, it makes a whole lot more sense. La Masia is a jewel that continues to shine bright even in Barcelona’s darkest night. The Who once said: the kids are alright, but these kids are better than that, they’re downright brilliant!