The new leader – Barcelona teenage phenom steps up following veteran star’s exit | OneFootball

Barcelona began their new campaign on a winning note, as they defeated RCD Mallorca 3-0 at Estadi Son Moix on Saturday night.

Lamine Yamal stole the show in attack, capping off a wonderful performance with a goal and an assist to his name.

Meanwhile, at the back, it was another teenage sensation, Pau Cubarsi, who rose to the occasion for Barcelona.

Cubarsi steps up as the new defensive leader

As highlighted by SPORT, following Inigo Martinez’s departure, Cubarsi has now stepped up as Barcelona’s new defensive leader.

The La Masia graduate is not flashy, nor does he yet have the experience that comes with years of top-level football – after all, he is still 18 years old. But he has the qualities of a leader that are starting to shine through.

Barcelona have yet to face opponents who can truly test the defensive level of the team, now without Inigo, who carried the responsibility of organising the high-backline, an essential element in Hansi Flick’s system.

Como, despite their status as an ever-improving team in Italy, were swept aside in the Gamper Trophy, while Mallorca suffered playing many minutes with nine men after the dismissals of Vedat Muriqi and Manu Morlanes.

Nevertheless, Barcelona have now recorded three consecutive clean sheets (against Daegu, Como, and Mallorca), and a sense of defensive security has emerged – with Cubarsi at the centre of it.

Rising to the challenge

The new defensive leader. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

During the 69 minutes he played at Son Moix, Cubarsi acted as a marshal, forming a solid partnership with Ronald Araujo, who was given space in possession by Mallorca but remained firm defensively.

The La Masia defender won two of three aerial duels and registered an outstanding passing accuracy of 92% (compared to Araujo’s 81%), completing 48 of 52 attempted passes.

While Araujo is a leader in the dressing room and, in practice, captain of the Blaugrana squad due to Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s injury, on the pitch, it is Cubarsi’s footballing qualities that prevail.

The teenager’s reliability and reading of the game are beyond his age. He has also had to adapt to a change in position within the heart of the defence, moving to the left-sided centre-back role following Inigo’s exit.

Cubarsi’s tactical intelligence allows him to bring the ball out with control and engage opponents from the left side of defence.

The 18-year-old has been pushed by circumstances to take over from Martinez and step forward as the defensive reference point of the Blaugrana team. And so far, he has risen to the challenge.