Barcelona are one of the giants in world football. They have one of the best academies in the world. The Spanish team always looks to promote their young talents. These players often get a chance to represent the club at a young age. Pedri and Gavi were two of the best products produced by the Spanish club in recent seasons. Lamine Yamal rose through the ranks last season and is now regarded as one of the best talents in football.
This season, Barcelona have a new coach. Hansi Flick has taken over Xavi’s reign. He is also promoting talent. Due to injuries in the midfield, Flick was forced to promote some players to the first team. Marc Bernal became the latest player to make LaLiga debut for Barcelona. He turned 17 in May and plays as a defensive midfielder. Bernal made a promising start to the 2024-25 campaign. However, this start ended with a horrible ACL injury in his left knee. This means that Bernal is likely to miss the entire season with an injury. Gavi was also ruled out due to the same problem. So how big a miss would Marc Bernal be? Let’s find out.
Dream start in Barcelona colours
Barcelona have played three matches in the league this season. They have a 100% record in the league. Hansi Flick gave an opportunity to Marc Bernal in the first match. After an impressive debut in the LaLiga, Bernal started the next two matches as well. He is a defensive midfielder and acts as a protective shield in front of the defence. Bernal was very disciplined as he only gave away fouls in the attacking half. The youngster made seven interceptions to stop the opposition from advancing.
Marc was unable to show his creative side in these three matches. The pass map shows that the youngster distributed the ball to different parts of the field. There were a variety of passes attempted by the youngster.
What else Marc Bernal had to offer?
Marc Bernal played for Barcelona Atletic in the Spanish third division. He played in 27 league games. The pizza chart shows the percentile rank of the youngster in comparison to other defensive midfielders in Tier 7 league football. Bernal had a good percentile rank in every department. His defensive work was up to the mark as he won plenty of defensive duels. Overall, Bernal enjoyed a decent season.
The 17-year-old showed his creative side. He provided five assists. By looking at the above viz we can observe that most of the shot assists landed in dangerous attacking areas. Bernal can provide a killer pass to his teammate inside the box.
Barcelona will surely miss his services in the remaining season. Ilkay Gundogan has left the club and some players are out for a long-term. This youngster solved a bit of problems for the new manager. Bernal will look to come back stronger and show his worth.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine