Report highlights 23-year-old Barcelona defender’s one critical mistake in an otherwise impressive performance | OneFootball

FC Barcelona had to go into the second leg of the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League under very difficult circumstances, as the entire team was fatigued and Hansi Flick was without some of his key starters for this game.

One such starter who was unfit for this match was the fullback Alejandro Balde, and his place in the lineup was taken by the rather inexperienced Gerard Martin, even though he had started the last game against Real Valladolid and it was expected that Flick would deploy Inigo Martinez on the left flank.

Gerard Martin impresses against Inter Milan

Despite the concerns about his lack of experience and his not being ready to play such a big game, Martin actually put in an impressive performance and was key for his side’s comeback in the second half as he provided the assists for both the first two goals scored by Barcelona.

He could easily have had a hat-trick of assists, but Eric Garcia missed a very good chance to score only a few minutes after his first goal, as Yann Sommer pulled off an amazing save.

Furthermore, the young defender also made a lot of defensive contributions and undoubtedly passed his first big test.

Barcelona defender Gerard Marin. [Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images]

One mistake proves costly

However, there was still one action in which his performance could have saved his side from elimination. This was in the 93rd minute, when Dumfries snatched the ball from him in an action which turned out to be the third goal for Inter Milan.

There was an obvious foul from the Dutchman in this action, as he touched Barcelona defender’s foot before getting the ball. However, the referee and the linesman did not deem it a foul, and Martin himself was quick to get up and start playing.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, had he remained on the ground, the VAR would have been forced to intervene, as was the case at the end of the first half when VAR intervened to give the Italians a penalty after the referee had continued play following Cubarsi’s foul on Lautaro Martinez.

The Argentine remained on the ground till the referee stopped play and went to the monitor, and Gerard Martin should have done the same to get the goal ruled out. Hopefully, he will become aware of these intricacies with more experience.