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The young centre-back impressed on his first appearance of the season against Celtic on Tuesday, and there is much more to come from the 21-year-old Masia graduate

PROFILE
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer

His patience has finally been rewarded. Marc Bartra had been persistently praised by Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova in recent weeks, but largely ignored by the Catalan coach - despite the club's crisis in central defence.

On Tuesday night, however, he came of age with an accomplished appearance against Celtic in the Champions League. And there is plenty more to come.

Bartra must have watched in frustration as he was continually left on the sidelines, even when Barca were missing a whole host of defenders, including Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Marc Muniesa and Eric Abidal. Down to the bare bones in defence, Vilanova preferred to use midfielders Javier Mascherano and Alex Song at the back, as well as utility man Adriano. Amid the defensive dearth, there was still no place for Bartra.

But Sergio Busquets' suspension and Pique's failure to recover from a foot problem ahead of Tuesday's match meant Vilanova was down yet another player. This time Bartra was given his chance - and he grabbed it.

It is often said that centre-back is the hardest position to fill at Barcelona. The Puyol prototype is a dying breed and even the captain began his career as a full-back before moving inside, and that was at a time when the Catalan club were going through a period of transition, too, with less pressure and expectation than now. Pique, meanwhile, was forced to leave the club in order to gain experience elsewhere before ultimately triumphing in the first team, and Albert Botia, an established Under-21 international with Spain, was simply surplus to requirements.

While midfielders and forwards can be eased into the side and afforded poor performances, a young defender simply cannot slip up. At the back, mistakes mean goals conceded and, as Tito told the press recently, fielding Bartra too soon could have ruined his career before it had even started.

MARC BARTRA, 21 CENTRE-BACK | BARCELONA

2011-12 SEASON STATS Appearances 2 Goals 0 Assists 0 INTERNATIONAL FILE Senior debut Feb 14, 2010 Under-21 Caps (goals) 8 (2) He could be the next... Gerard Pique

Barca have long known the stylish centre-back (whose twin brother Eric is also a footballer in the lower leagues) would make it in the first team. However, Vilanova was keen to promote his summer signing Song to justify the significant outlay of €25 million, while he is also said to have been unhappy at Bartra's contract clause which stipulated that he had to be moved up to the first team this term. In addition, there was a problem with Lionel Messi, too, after the defender went in hard on the Argentine in a pre-season practice session. This left the forward fuming, as well as sidelined for the friendly against Hamburg, and also meant the Catalan club lost money for failing to select their star player in Germany.

That issue was rapidly resolved, despite claims to the contrary, and Bartra has never seriously contemplated leaving Camp Nou. His agent, however, was unhappy at Song's selection in favour of his client: "Bartra is 25,000 times better than Song as a central defender," he told reporters recently.

The defender is a popular player with his team-mates, at both junior and senior level. Friendly and somewhat shy but extremely intelligent, the youngster is one of a new breed of cultured players and is currently studying a degree to complement his career at Camp Nou.

Tall, fast and strong in the air, the 21-year-old possesses tremendous technical ability and has been compared to Pique because of his elegance and ability to bring the ball out from the back. Although similar, it is believed the pair can go on to form a successful partnership at Camp Nou in the future, though the club hope Bartra can add strength and muscle to his flimsy frame over the coming weeks and months.

Vilanova has used six different partnerships at the back already in 2012-13 and could select a seventh on Saturday at Rayo Vallecano, with Bartra set to play - ironically - alongside Song as Mascherano misses out through suspension. It will be only the youngster's 10th appearance since making his debut under Pep Guardiola on Valentine's Day, 2010. This particular love story is burning slowly, but Barca hope it will be long-lasting.

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