If Xavi can hold on to something in his early days at Barça, it is the future. Despite the presence of veterans such as Piqué (34 years old), Busquets (33) and Jordi Alba (32), Barça presented an eleven in the derby with an average age of 24.9 years with insultingly young players like Gavi (17 ), Ilias (17), Nico (19) or Eric (20). Gavi, Nico and Eric are already settled in the first team and they are here to stay. Ilias and Abde (19), who appeared in the second half are, for the moment, patches before the avalanche of absences in the forwards.
“They are nanos,” said Xavi after the game to explain how Barça had been losing the thread of the game when they had to remove Gavi and Nico fell apart. But the truth is that The huge age gap that exists in the squad weighs heavily on Barça. Between Piqué and Gavi there are 17 and a half years. There are few mature players. Ter Stegen (29), Memphis (27) and maybe De Jong (who is still 24), should be the backbone to get up to a team that suffers a lot from that enormous distance of age. It is not a coincidence that Barça ends the matches like in Vallecas, Vigo or the derby. Suffering and lost.
For now, the plan is La Masia. Up to eight youth players played against Espanyol. And that’s what the coach clings to. To values and attitude. “In that we have touched excellence”, surprised Xavi in his statements. Surely, because he knows that, in football terms, the team is not up for much longer and it is time to hold on to the emotion and the player.
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