In the midst of the battle between equidistance and militancy that sports journalism is waging in these times, the figure of Pablo Martín Páez ‘Gavi’ emerges, a new point of friction between what has been called the “caves”. On one side, that of Madrid, made up of the media that Guardiola baptized as “the Dairy Plant”. On the other, the “Blaugrana people”, Catalan media among which some the day that the National Court admitted to process the investigation of the payments from Barcelona to Enríquez Negreira for alleged corruption, hid the news in some corner of their website by putting themselves in profile so as not to bother Laporta.
Gavi Soldiers!
In this context, the figure of Gavi appears, a hot-blooded and hard-legged young footballer as talented as he is revolutionary. While from Barcelona the press that pointed to casemiro as a violent footballer is now defined as “Soldiers of Gavi!”Opposite those who justified the harshness of Madrid’s Brazilian pivot have come to describe the young Barça player as a “butcher” or “macarra”.
A dialectical struggle that has ended up jumping into the changing rooms of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Xavi has come out in defense of his player: “They said that he is a butcher… I know where the shots come from. In the national team he is marvelous and in Barça he crosses the line. Gavi He is an extraordinary player, who puts passion, grit, courage and a tremendous attitude into him. He shouldn’t change. The problem is that he is a Barça player. If it were from another team what is a problem would be a virtue”. To which Ancelotti has replied, as always, relativizing everything with his usual sarcasm: “If Gavi were not from Barça?… And if my grandfather had wheels he would be a car. Everyone has their problems. Gavi has them and the Vinicius has. It’s football”.
Rifi-rafe with Ceballos
Like it or not, Gavi has been in the eye of the hurricane since he starred in a brawl with Ceballos, his neighbor from Utrera, ten kilometers from Los Palacios, in which the Real Madrid player first pulled his hair and the Barça player made a tackle untimely without the ball afterwards. Neither of the two actions obtained arbitration punishment, causing the two “caves” to bellow in outrage at the negligence of the referee on duty. The incident ended with Louis of the Sourcethe new selector, sitting both in Las Rozas front to iron out rough edges.
At 18, the young Barcelona midfielder is a fixture in the Barça eleven and in the national team. Precisely while in concentration with the latter a few days ago, the digital medium Relevo, located in Madrid, warned: ‘Gavi leaves shadows in the last concentration’. In the news it was reported that the Catalan wanted to be absent from an autograph signing act citing a headache, that he had shown his discomfort at being lined up in a position in which he felt uncomfortable and that he left “some very ugly kick” in the Norwegian pre-match training. Report that was understood conspiratorially by the Barcelona media as part of “a campaign against Gavi”.
talent and aggressiveness
The football reality is that Gavi is non-negotiable for Xavi, having played 38 of the 41 games that Barça has played this season, starting 30 of them. The numbers also reveal that irrepressible aggressiveness of the Sevillian that leads him to be the player who has made the most fouls in the League, with 60, ahead of Trejo (59) or Vinicius (58). But while the Catalan has been booked six times, which yields an average of one card for every ten fouls, the Real Madrid striker has seen eight yellow cards, most of them for protesting.
The latest scandal that has plagued the Catalan player has to do with his alleged improper alignment last weekend. Isaac Fouto, from COPE, also announced from Madrid that Elche was considering challenging the match because Gavi’s license was canceled and article 141 of the RFEF prevents playing again in the same season with a canceled license. However, the reality is that no one canceled Gavi’s license. The Mercantile Court annulled the precautionary measure that allowed Gavi to play with a first-team card. But having a Juvenil A record, and a League visa, Gavi can play with Barcelona without problems. Putting an end to this controversy in which the young Barça player was once again involved.
Earliness and prizes
Gavi debuted with Spain at 17 years and 62 days. He was in the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League against Italy and far from the match being great, as it was predicted with skepticism from Madrid, where it was described as a “whim of Luis Enrique”, the Sevillian was the best against the Azzurri. Shortly after, at the World Cup, he became the second youngest player to start, at 18 years and 123 days, only behind Pelé, who in Sweden, in 1958, did so at 17 years and 249 days. And with his goal against Costa Rica he became the youngest to score since 1958 and the third youngest in World Cup history.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Italian newspaper ‘Tuttosport’ crowned him with the Golden Boy award for the best European Under-21 player, an award that he collected weeks after receiving the Kopa Trophy at the 2022 Ballon d’Or gala, for the best player under 21 years of age.
This Wednesday Real Madrid lands at the Camp Nou with the difficult mission of overturning the tie against a Barcelona that won the first leg (0-1) with a goal from Militao in his own goal. Ancelotti he knows that superiority in the midfield will be key to managing the game and there Gavi will once again face Modric. The Croatian will lead the white midfield, in which this time Carletto will bet on getting more physical with the legs of Camavinga, Valverde and even Tchouameni. A physical duel in which Gavi will wear stripes for the Catalans. The Sevillian is the ying and Pedri is the yang in a midfield in which many see them as the successors of Xavi and Iniesta.
This is how Gavi arrives at this classic that will mark the season for Madrid and Barça. Pointed out, as always, by a supposed referee’s bull that Xavi blames on the “cave” of Madrid: “It seems silly to me. For me it is just the other way around: he gets many fouls and few whistle blows. This from Gavi’s arbitration bull is from the creators of Villarato and Barça’s doping…”.