Watch: Barcelona youngster’s moment of genius to that proved crucial in El Clasico

Kylian Mbappe has been widely mocked across the globe after his performance against Barcelona in El Clasico where he simply struggled to stay onside for Los Blancos.

While the Frenchman’s struggles are in part related to his poor making, an equal share of praise must be showered on Barcelona’s defensive line for maintaining the high line with such precision.

After all, Mbappe even found the back of the net close to the half-hour mark with a great finish past Inaki Pena and celebrated the goal in three ways before having it ruled out. Had that goal counted, the game could have taken a different course.

Pau Cubarsi’s brilliance

While at first, it may appear that Mbappe mistimed his run for the move in the 30th minute, a closer look at the same shows the genius of Pau Cubarsi who saw Mbappe dragged into an offside position.

It was Lucas Vazquez who did well to find Mbappe with a ball over the top for the move and the Frenchman’s control and finish was flawless. It was, however, Barcelona’s teenage defender who showed great intelligence to disallow the goal.

Just when the right-back was about to play the ball over the top, Cubarsi was running towards his own goal in parallel with Mbappe. He quickly realised that the player had already reached the same line as Inigo Martinez and thus slowed down his run.

If not for the intelligence of Cubarsi, Mbappe’s first goal would have been onside

Kudos to the 17 years old cb⭐️❤️ pic.twitter.com/n5IOOqMVuM

— KarbeyFCB🔴 (@KarbeyFCB) October 27, 2024

As a result of Cubarsi’s decision, he stayed further up the pitch than Mbappe and the offside line was drawn to Martinez’s level, who also played the striker offside.

Had Cubarsi not made the decision that instant, he could well have played him onside.

It is astounding that the youngster shows such a deep understanding of the positional aspect of the game at 17 years of age, but it only goes to show how well Hansi Flick has drilled his defence with the idea.

Moreover, one must acknowledge that Cubarsi is very special and one of the best young talents in world football.