Tactical tweak showcases strengths of Barcelona defensive prodigy against Real Madrid – Opinion | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have been blessed to have some of the most talented youngsters in the world and more importantly, they have a coach who is willing to give them a chance in the first-team. This trend was started off (or re-started) by Ronald Koeman.

The legendary Dutch defender was the one who gave the likes of Pedri and Gavi their first-team debuts and made Alejandro Balde a starter. This was taken to the next level by his successor Xavi Hernandez, who unearthed Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi.

Hansi Flick has now taken all this to a whole new level, bringing in players like Marc Casado, Marc Bernal, and more recently, Toni Fernandez, all of whom look set to stay in the scheme of things with regards to the first team for years to come.

What Lamine Yamal does at 17 is incredible. Of course, he is already one of the best right-wingers in the world but truth be told, he gets more than enough accolades for the incredible level that he has been showing at such a young age.

One other player at Barcelona who is also the same age but doesn’t get talked about just as much, despite probably doing an even more difficult job in a novel position is Pau Cubarsi. Set to turn 18 in a week’s time, the Spaniard’s performances have left even the most experienced in the sport dumbfounded.

It is much easier to be a teenager and break into the first team as an attacker than a teenager and break into the first team as a central defender. An attacker is given much more license to be expansive as he has cover behind him even if he loses the ball.

Whereas, when playing as a central defender, there isn’t much room for error. For someone who plays as expansive a game as Cubarsi does from central defense, his age can often turn out to be the crucifying factor but then, the 17-year-old hardly ever makes a mistake.

By now, everyone who has been following Barcelona for the better part of the last year will know all about Pau Cubarsi. Defensive acumen that belies his tender age and a passing range that would make a midfielder proud are two things that are often mentioned with regards to him.

However, against Real Madrid, Hansi Flick was forced to make a small tactical tweak mid-game that seemed to make Pau Cubarsi even more potent than he has been all season (if that is even possible in the first place).

When Inigo Martinez (a left-footed central defender) got injured, Hansi Flick replaced him with Ronald Araujo (a right-footed defender), leaving him having to make a choice. He had to use one of Cubarsi or Araujo on the left side of central defense.

The blessing for Hansi Flick is that Cubarsi is one of the most two-footed central defenders on the planet and he can play on either side, with equal conviction. What the game against Real Madrid and looking back, many games from last season have told us though is that the teenager could be one of those rare exceptions who would be even better as a left-sided defender than on the right.

Playing on the left side of defense helps Cubarsi open up his expansive passing range. When playing alongside Inigo, he often left the Spanish veteran to pull out his inch-perfect diagonals to the runners upfront but with Araujo, who is much less skilled with the ball at his feet, the 17-year-old had to take responsibility.

Cubarsi is easily the best center-back in the world with the ball at his feet and when playing on the left side, he gets more room on the pitch to open up the entire right side of the field and find Lamine Yamal and Jules Kounde with astonishing accuracy.

More than just his cross-field diagonals, Cubarsi is also able to thread passes along the ground through the eye of a needle, and from his new position under Hansi Flick, he is able to find passes in the entire arc starting from Robert Lewandowski to Lamine Yamal.

Although one did not see this often, going by the same logic, it must not be too difficult for Cubarsi to find passes to the left winger either. In fact, this might be the easier pass to pull off for a right-footed defender playing on the left side.

The best way to sum up Pau Cubarsi is that he is a cheat code to have during the build-up. It is like playing with an extra deep-lying playmaker and judging by the evidence, his future at Barcelona might lie in the left-sided central defense role.

Now that Inigo is set to miss out for a few weeks, the onus is on Pau Cubarsi to step up in his new role and there is no doubt that the soon-to-be 18-year-old will start showing the world what a few of us picked up against Real Madrid.

It is frightening to think of the heights that Pau Cubarsi could reach in a Barcelona shirt if he continues developing at a similar rate. He is already right up there with some of the best central defenders in the world and let’s wait and see how his career plays out going forward.