With Barcelona’s bid to bring Neymar back from Paris Saint-Germain stalling on Friday, two young talents from La Masia showed in a 2-2 draw at Osasuna the following day why the club should instead place their trust in their own youth system.
Ansu Fati and Carles Perez played key roles at El Sadar, in a game that offered welcome relief from the seemingly endless speculation over the potential return of the prodigal son.
Perhaps all of the Neymar transfer talk put Barcelona off their stride because, in the first half, they offered nothing positive going forward.
Coach Ernesto Valverde selected the same side which thrashed Real Betis 5-2 last weekend, but they got short shrift from their enthusiastic – and sometimes agricultural – hosts in Pamplona.
Roberto Torres broke the deadlock after seven minutes, emphatically lashing past Marc-Andre ter Stegen, with the Barcelona defence utterly shapeless.
The visitors failed to get their act together before the break, unable to muster a single shot either on or off target.
But things changed when Valverde brought on Fati, who became the club’s second-youngest debutant last weekend with a cameo against Betis.
With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez or Ousmane Dembele all once again available due to their respective injury issues, young guns like Fati and Perez had a chance to shine.
And shine they did, with Perez crossing for Fari to power home a header six minutes into the second half.
“Hostia!” Fati to himself after celebrating becoming the youngest goalscorer in Barca history. “Bloody hell!” indeed.
He could not believe it. Few could. In netting in Pamplona, Fati had also become the third-youngest player ever to score in La Liga at 16 years and 304 days, behind only Fabrice Olinga (16 years 98 days) and Iker Muniain (16 years 289 days).
Fati, who received a big hug from Messi after his debut last weekend, will doubtless get an even bigger embrace from the club captain for what was a perfect header.
It was a notable one, too, with Ansu’s goal the first Osasuna have conceded at El Sadar since April.
It was reward not just for Fati and La Masia, but for Valverde too.
Barcelona’s coach is often maligned – sometimes fairly, sometimes not – but it was at the least brave to give Fati 45 minutes at one of the league’s toughest grounds to visit.
Indeed, Barcelona always struggle here; Pep Guardiola didn’t even manage one victory at Osasuna.
In that context, other coaches might have thrown Fati on in the final 10 minutes, hoping blindly for some kind of last gasp contribution.
But Valverde adjusted his tactics to find room for Fati, resisting the understandable temptation to just swap him with the other youngster in the attack – Perez.
Instead it was Nelson Semedo who made way for Fati at half-time, with Sergi Roberto shifted back into defence and the newcomer deployed on the left of the attack, with Rafinha dropping into midfield.
Perez – allowed to stay on more for his determination and willingness to run at the defence than for any quality he showed in the first half – delivered the perfect ball for Fati to head home.
The 21-year-old winger also teed up Arthur for Barcelona’s second goal, nudging the ball on to the Brazilian, who calmly worked some space for himself before finishing with aplomb.
That was further reward for Valverde, who also introduced Arthur early in the second half as he looked for more control. Two substitutions, two goals – not too shabby.
Of course, with such inexperienced players in the side, there will always be moments of naivety.
Perez certainly took the wrong option in the final stages when he might have earned Barcelona the win.
After Torres had levelled from the spot, a sensational through ball from Arthur put Perez clean through. However, instead of finishing or finding the supporting Antoine Griezmann, the youngster suffered a loss of composure and the ball inched away from him, allowing Osasuna goalkeeper Ruben Martinez to intervene.
It cost Barcelona two points, but giving players coming through the youth system a platform could end up saving the club millions.
About €220m, to be precise…
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