At the end of the game on Saturday, Pau Cubarsi was unhappy.
The match against Getafe was Barcelona’s return to La Liga after almost a month, due to the Christmas break and the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana matches. Having taken five points from 21 in the final La Liga games of 2024, their lead in the standings had gone. They now sit third behind both Madrid clubs.
A promising start to 2025 — four convincing wins and 10 goals scored in the past two games — gave them cause for optimism in Getafe, but the trip has proved challenging recently. Jose Bordalas’ team are just one point above the relegation zone and are very defensive, trying to break up the game, which is the Achilles’ heel for Barca’s style.
Barca had not scored a goal at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez since 2019. They broke that streak through Jules Kounde after an incredible assist from Pedri, but they drew 1-1. The Catalans now have four consecutive draws in their last four visits to the stadium.
This had seemed the perfect scenario to put that bad run behind them, but it was not to be. It will also not have been the result Cubarsi would have wanted as he marked the first anniversary of his senior debut.
That came in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey in January 2024 against Unionistas de Salamanca from the third-tier Primera RFEF, when he came on after half-time for Andreas Christensen. He was only 16, four days shy of his 17th birthday, and being given his debut at the club that has formed such a central part of his life was the perfect early present from then-manager Xavi Hernandez.
Cubarsi was one the best players during his 45 minutes in Salamanca and has continued to grow in confidence and performance at a dizzying rate since.
Of Barca’s young players, Lamine Yamal, six months younger than Cubarsi, rightly gets the majority of praise. Even though Yamal is still only 17, he is already positioning himself as one of the best players in the world — but Cubarsi is not far behind.
In the year since his debut, he has played 54 games, with 44 coming as a starter. Being a teenager and centre-back for Barca is not easy because of the responsibility and the pressure. As well as fulfilling the defensive side of the role, they must also be comfortable with the ball at their feet. As the below graphic shows, while his most common passes are in the defensive area of the pitch, he also progresses his team into the opponent’s half as well as switching play.
Often the best Barcelona central defenders have graduated from La Masia, as is the case with Cubarsi. But it is unusual for them to establish themselves so quickly.
A couple of months after Cubarsi’s debut, he was called up to the Spanish senior team and starred on his Champions League debut against Napoli in the last 16 before neutralising Kylian Mbappe at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the next round against Paris Saint-Germain.
This summer, he was an important part of the Spain team that won Olympic gold and was nominated for the Golden Boy award, for the best under-21 footballer in Europe (which was unsurprisingly won by Yamal). According to Transfermarkt, his market value has risen from €1.5million (£1.3m; $1.54m) to €70million in one year.
Many defined him as a mixture of Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, the best defensive duo Barcelona have had. And that is not an exaggerated comparison.
His intelligence makes him the perfect partner to find passes where no one else sees them and to be well-positioned to defend opposition moves. An example of this can be seen in every game. In the fourth minute against Getafe, Cubarsi easily stopped a Getafe counterattack, preventing Coba da Costa from getting into a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Inaki Pena.
Cubarsi prevented Coba from dribbling or shooting, always leaving his opponent free to use his left foot because he knew Coba prefers to shoot with his right. He also put pressure on Coba to prevent him from turning until he eventually lost possession.
According to WhoScored, Cubarsi had a 93 per cent passing accuracy. But while he did usually show his judgement and intelligence during the performance, he was not attentive enough to remove the danger for the Getafe goal and had a dangerous turnover towards the end which he solved with a saving tackle.
A year after that cold night in Salamanca, Cubarsi returned to the changing room after the game with a more serious complexion. But in the year since his debut, Cubarsi has matured and established himself in the elite and has an immovable place in Barcelona’s starting XI.
Many consider him to be one of the best centre-backs in Europe and he only turns 18 this week. That seems remarkable even if an absurd talent like Yamal’s means Cubarsi is sometimes overshadowed and does not get the exposure he deserves.
Cubarsi could not mark the first anniversary of his debut as he would have liked, but Barca once again have a starting centre-back made in La Masia. And his progression and maturity is something to celebrate.
(Top photo: Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
