Spain – Barcelona – Riqui Puig & Ansu Fati, so young but already crucial at Barça

Spain – Barcelona

In a title race which promises to be unrestrained against Real Madrid, Barça is looking for a game. To find a semblance of identity and not rely solely on Messi, Quique Setien could (should?) Rely on his young talents, already interesting.

56 minutes for a new face. Fortunately, to welcome Bilbao on Tuesday, the Camp Nou was behind closed doors. Also, no supporter was there to witness a new hour of offensively pathetic play from FC Barcelona. In place of the whistles that would no doubt have amplified the Barcelona lair, viewers then heard recorded encouragement from supporters. Surely from the guardiolist period, which left this Barça orphan of its gaming identity. Recently, neither Ernesto Valverde nor Quique Setien have managed to reconnect with this DNA so dear to partners. And football lovers. Where sitting in front of your TV on a Barça match night was a guarantee of a good evening a few years ago, we’d rather turn on Netflix – or any other streaming platform, for that matter. Even not necessarily a good film, it will always be better than this tasteless spectacle whose end is systematically the same, and therefore known to all. Namely that the blaugrana slump ends when a certain Lionel Messi decides to put on his cape to win his own. Since the resumption, the Argentinian has weighed 2 goals and 3 assists, just that. However, the last 44 minutes against Bilbao left a special flavor in the mouth: that of waiting for the next match. Rare these days. It is the fault of two young players, who entered the course of the game, who decided to wake up Catalans who are far too settled in their comfort zone.

Riqui Puig, the science of space

The first of them is Riqui Puig. Announced for a very long time as the future Sergio Busquets, this crack of the Masia has struggled to find a place among the pros. In particular because of its puny physique (1.69m, or twenty centimeters less than number 5) and a sector at least blocked in 4-3-3 (Busquets, de Jong, Arthur, Rakitic, Vidal or Alena and Rafinha). But since the end of last season, the pocket midfielder has been skipping pro play time. Until being recurrent since the recovery, thanks to the injury of his Dutch counterpart. And the least we can say is that the entrances of the young prodigy of 20 years were scrutinized and especially expected. Tuesday’s game against Bilbao gave water to the windmill partners who wanted to see it more. Number 28 on the back, he put his heart into the work, multiplying the stall races to energize the game, the vertical passes between the lines, while still being placed so as to hamper the opposing defense.