When Barca coach Xavi talks about his protégé Pau Cubarsí, he can’t help but rave. With FC Barcelona’s victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals over Paris Saint-Germain, the praise is getting even louder.
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“At 17 years old, he is at an exceptional level. “I can’t praise him enough: he wins duels, he fights like an older player,” said Xavi, impressed after the game. He is an “incredible player”. Then Xavi ennobled him with the words: “He was world class.”
Cubarsí was one of the players who made the difference in the Blaugrana’s 3-2 comeback win. The Spanish teenager was rock solid in central defense and time and again gave PSG star Kylian Mbappé no room to breathe. The 2018 world champion did not come into his own and did not contribute either a goal or an assist for Paris.
“Cubarsí phenomenon” inspires the football world
Experts and football fans are ecstatic, and the press is also celebrating Cubarsí. The Spanish newspaper Sport writes about the “phenomenon Cubarsí”, who not only acted like a central defender, but also like a midfielder “because of his insight”. For example, the youngster outplayed six opposing players before the 1-0 goal and opened the scoring.
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Cubarsí had already made his debut in the premier class in the second leg of the round of 16 against Naples and was an immediate guarantee of success. At the end of the game, he had an incredible tackle rate of 100 percent, 90 percent of his passes found his teammates, and he also played the most of his team with 68.
What is already noticeable is that the junior international, who made his debut in the Spanish senior national team in March as the youngest player of all time, keeps a cool head as a defender and as a passer. Comparisons to previous stars quickly arose. A few weeks ago, teammate Joao Cancelo commented on a post by the whiz kid “Franz Beckenbauer Cubarsí” on Instagram and drew a parallel to the German legend.
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Regular observers of FC Barcelona have probably noticed the player since January. Since then, the 17-year-old has been in the Catalans’ central defense and has been able to impress game after game.
Barca-Talent Cubarsí acquits La Masia
“He already plays like a player who is much older. “He’s aggressive, he doesn’t lose the ball and he’s so good at getting the ball out from behind,” Xavi praised his talent at the beginning of February after the game against Alaves.
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For his former coaches at La Masia, FC Barcelona’s legendary youth academy, Cubarsí, who is a trained central defender and has previously been described as a mixture of Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué, does not only have defensive qualities.
“He is a boy who does not care about the environment or the level of the opponent, he is not afraid of anything. He is a super talent on offense, with the ability to find passes inside, hard, perfect passes. He doesn’t care about the stage and his performance is always the same,” U19 coach José Lana told Marca.
Lana knows Cubarsí very well and has accompanied the young footballer in his development in the youth teams for many years.
For the youth coach, the youngster even has what it takes to be a captain. “He is a very good teammate and a great captain,” Lana recalled of Cubarsí’s time in the youth team.
Does Pep Guardiola want to lure Cubarsí to Man City?
José Lana also told Marca a telling anecdote about the young defender: “I remember once with the U15s he left everything in the dressing room at the end of a game and was the last to leave and walked across the floor with a broom, so that everything is perfect. It speaks to the kind of person Pau is.”
Meanwhile, Curbasí’s achievements do not go unnoticed by other clubs. According to an ESPN report, Cubarsí wants to join star advisor Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese is said to have a good relationship with those responsible at Barca, but he is considered a tough negotiating partner and is very well connected worldwide.
The current working paper for Curbasí, who joined Barca as a 12-year-old in 2018, is also said to contain a €10 million release clause, which could make the young Spaniard a hot potato on the transfer market next summer.
The Catalans, for their part, have been warned and are reportedly negotiating a contract extension in order to have the clause removed from the contract.
As the Spanish sports newspaper AS recently reported, Pep Guardiola is said to have already had his eye on the La Masia graduate and wants to lure him to Manchester City.