‘Are you kidding me?’ – Adil Rami astonished by 17-year-old Barcelona defender’s talent | OneFootball

This FC Barcelona team is full of youngsters who are exceeding all expectations and playing at a very high level despite being significantly younger than most of their opponents.

This is especially true for Lamine Yamal, who has proven himself to be one of the best wingers in Europe, despite being only seventeen.

Another young player performing at a high level this season is defender Pau Cubarsi. He is also just 17 years old but has already established himself as a key part of Barcelona’s backline.

The center-back has received a great deal of praise for his performances, with former French defender Adil Rami being the latest to commend the Barcelona youngster, as reported by SPORT.

The Frenchman was quite astonished seeing the Spaniard playing at such a high level at such a young age: “How can he be a tactical phenomenon at his age? 17 years old… Are you kidding me? Impossible.”

The 2018 World Cup winner also highlighted Cubarsi’s elite tactical awareness while reviewing a play from the game against Espanyol:

“The attacker positions himself to make a pass with his right foot, and then Cubarsí scans, follows his marker, and stops. But then, the danger comes from another player arriving from the second line, and at that point, there’s nothing he can do. But he does it perfectly.”

Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Then commenting on the recent El Clasico, Rami again went on to highlight the good work done by the Barcelona backline and Cubarsi:

“When they tell me Kylian Mbappé was offside so many times against Barcelona, I say: I applaud Barcelona, their defense, and Cubarsí. Because their offside traps since the beginning of this season deserve praise for the defense rather than criticizing Mbappé for his positioning errors… They do it so well because they’ve worked on it a lot in training.”

This analysis from Rami goes on to show the high level at which Cubarsi is performing this season. Hopefully, he will continue to play at this level and remain a part of the Barcelona backline for years to come.