Over the past few Barcelona games, a new chant has taken hold in the stands at Montjuic: ‘Cu, cu, Cubarsi.’
On Tuesday against Napoli, that chant was louder than ever, on the day of Pau Cubarsi’s remarkable Champions League debut.
You might ordinarily expect a promising youth academy graduate to make his first appearance in Europe’s elite club competition as a second-half substitute with the home side cruising. It’s not exactly usual for such a youngster to start at centre-back, up against a striker like Victor Osimhen, and with everything Barca had on the line.
Nor do they tend to end up being named player of the match. But Cubarsi, who only turned 17 in late January, is clearly a special player.
Most people were expecting Xavi to go for the cautious option and field Inigo Martinez alongside Ronald Araujo in the Barca backline, just as he did in last month’s last 16 first leg in Italy. With the aggregate score at 1-1, there was so much at stake; the €10.6million (£9m; $11.5m) prize money already counted in the club’s season budget, the danger defeat would bring to Xavi’s immediate position, the worries over what effect further European disappointment might have on the club’s fragile confidence.
To widespread surprise, Barca’s manager put Cubarsi in instead. It was not a surprise because he has been performing badly, but purely because he is so young and it was the most important game of the season. It was all or nothing — and one mistake could be decisive.
Apart from one slightly clumsy tangle that saw Napoli penalty appeals turned down, Cubarsi was impeccable in his duels with Osimhen. He was composed beyond his years and, as always, excelled with his first touch and in playing out from defence, something that Barcelona have always wanted from their centre-backs (but have not always got). One perfect early long pass over the top set Fermin Lopez free to run on goal, but the midfielder unfortunately failed to finish.
“When Pau Cubarsi has the ball at his feet, my heart rate doesn’t go up,” Xavi said at his post-match press conference.
“This is his best version. I’m calm when he has the ball. It’s priceless. Napoli pressed and he always found the best option. When he plays direct he plays with sense. He’s getting better every day. We are in front of a wonderful breakthrough.”
On the pitch, Cubarsi looked perfectly at home. He played a game that centre-backs 10 years his senior dream of. It was only in front of the microphones that one realised how young he is, but not necessarily for what he said.
When Cubarsi received his player of the match trophy, he stared at it as if it couldn’t possibly be for him, as if he were being given a present and it wasn’t his birthday. Possibly he was also unaware of the Champions League’s post-match protocol because he had never taken part in one before.
He smiled for the cameras, trophy under his arm, swaying nervously as he spoke — all without losing his grin for a single moment. It was all just a game to him, a child’s game.
“We’ve gone from pressure to ambition,” Cubarsi said. “This is my game, to play calmly. It’s what I know how to do.”
Tuesday night’s 3-1 victory was a triumph for Barcelona’s youth academy. Cubarsi was the game’s best player, Fermin Lopez scored the opening goal, Sergi Roberto transformed things in the second half and provided an assist for the Robert Lewandowski strike that sealed their progress. Xavi, another La Masia-trained former player, made the calls.
Xavi wanted to show that he was serious about insisting on the quality of his youngsters by gambling everything on that particular card. What followed was one of the most attractive games Barca have played this season, with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal also impressive again on the big stage.
As soon as the referee blew the final whistle, several Barca players went running straight towards Cubarsi, mobbing him in celebration. The team had just advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals, having last played in the knockout rounds three years ago, and everyone wanted to cheer with the youngster who shone brightest under the hefty weight of Barca’s complex expectations — and when it mattered most.
“He’s a player for life, one of those who come out of La Masia,” said 32-year-old Sergi Roberto, also a graduate of Barca’s youth academy. “He’s a very humble boy, a hard worker. When it is said that this club is more than a club it is because of these things, because of trusting the home-grown people.”
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟
¡CU CU CUBARSÍ 🌟 pic.twitter.com/jWOdEwnZL3— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) March 12, 2024
Among the international media, some having watched Cubarsi for the first time, many were deeply impressed. “What I see in Cubarsi I haven’t seen in any other player,” one veteran journalist said. “He has things of Gerard Pique, but he does things that even Pique didn’t do at his age.”
In the days leading up to the game, speaking with several figures around the club, you could sense an extra sense of concern over this Napoli tie and what defeat would mean. Between the lines one could read that it was not just a Champions League match, but something more.
Barcelona will have to continue to work to fully put their traumas in Europe behind them. And now a tough draw awaits them on Friday with a majority of opponents who have caused them many problems in recent years.
But you have to start somewhere. A win with La Masia’s stamp on it, with Cubarsi leading the way and Barca now once more counted among the top eight teams in Europe, is a very good way to go about it.
(Top photo: Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
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