After a generational trough observed in recent seasons, Barça is reconnecting with what has made it stand out over the last thirty years, namely its inimitable training. For several months, we almost have the impression that it is enough to shake a tree for talents to appear in Catalonia. After Gavi, Alejandro Baldé, Fermín López, Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal and Marc Bernal, it is Marc Casado’s turn to experience a meteorite outbreak.
Deemed still too green last season by Xavi, the 21-year-old midfielder had only played 13 minutes in La Liga. This is already 50 times less than the playing time given to him by Hansi Flick since August in the league (627 minutes, and 270 out of 270 possible in the Champions League). “ Flick and the team give me a lot of peace of mind », he summed up yesterday, after riding in the middle of Real Madrid alongside Pedri (0-4). Earlier in the week already, his major performance against Bayern (4-1) must have fueled a certain form of guilt in Xavi, who had continually preferred Oriol Romeu last season.
Aurelien Tchouameni paid the price
However, there was no need to wait until yesterday, or Wednesday against the Kimmich – Palhinha duo, to know that the player was full of quality. The sure-footedness, the carefreeness, the football IQ that goes with it, but also this aggressiveness on impact like a Gavi… This is what we have seen since the start of the season in the player born in 2003 and from the same generation as Baldé and Fermin, who perhaps made yesterday’s Clasico his entry passport for the Spanish selection (Luis de la Fuente will unveil his new list in the coming days).
On the first Catalan goal, it was he who put Lewandowski into orbit with a magnificent whipped pass (54th, 0-1). Before and after (until his preventive exit linked to his yellow card), he had also reigned over the midfield by reciting the lesson to Aurélien Tchouameni, the defensive midfielder opposite, arrived for 80 million euros ago is two years old, but still sorely lacking in influence on both surfaces. The Frenchman would be well advised to analyze his opponent’s compilation… Because in Madrid, we are starting to get impatient.
