Data-driven Player of the Month: Pau Cubarsi - a defender with incredible maturity
The tall defender immediately caught the eye with his performances, so much so that he even featured in both of the national team's two recent friendly matches.
He displaced Andreas Christensen in the Blaugranas defence, who now plays either in midfield or among the substitutes. In the five games in March, Cubarsi was absent from the field for only 15 minutes and contributed significantly to his team conceding just the one goal during that time.
And after all this, it is worth remembering once again that he is just 17 years old! Only his teammate and another prodigy from Barcelona's La Masia academy, Lamine Yamal, is the youngest of those who have played at least 500 minutes across all competitions for clubs in the elite five European leagues this season.
Cubarsi hasn't just impressed in the domestic league. He made his Champions League debut in the middle of last month, becoming the youngest player to make his debut in the knockout stages since David Alaba in 2010. In the second leg against Napoli, he was named the player of the match.
He certainly does not play a secondary role in the line-up. On the contrary, he is comfortable on the ball and often has it at his feet, and he rarely makes mistakes. In March, he had the highest pass success rate and the highest number of passes of any Barcelona player (365 successful passes, 92.4% efficiency), with playmaker Ilkay Gundogan coming in second (323, 91%).
A graduate of the club's famed academy, he is naturally used to keeping the ball, waiting for the right moment to pass and support the attack. In the last month, he completed 84 dribbles over five metres, with only Gundogan (103) and Real midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni (85) managing more in LaLiga.
Even though Cubarsi regularly brought the ball out primarily to escape from a dangerous situation rather than having an attack in mind, he still completed a high number of progressive runs and was among the top 20 in the Spanish league in this respect.
At the same time, he conjured up the highest number of actions from open play that led to a shot (six, with Gundogan having the same number) out of everyone at Barcelona.
The young defender is reliable in duels thanks to his height and anticipation, both on the ground (55.6%) and in the air (50%). What he excels at, however, is battling for the ball. In total, he has managed to rob an opposing player of the ball nine times out of 11 in the past month. Again, the best out of any player at Barca.
To his fans, he may remind them of Argentine all-rounder Javier Mascherano, who coach Pep Guardiola converted from a defensive midfielder to a defender after his arrival from Liverpool. According to statistics, Cubarsi is performing at the level of his predecessor in the 2015/16 season. Back then, Barca triumphed in the league, domestic cup, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup...
Who knows, maybe big team trophies are in the offing for this extraordinary talent this season. The first big test will be the Champions League quarter-final against Kylian Mbappe's PSG in the coming weeks.
