After a 2-2 draw in LaLiga against Osasuna in December, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez didn’t know whether to be delighted or despondent about the role three teenagers played in securing a point for his side. Nico Gonzalez and Abde Ezzalzouli scored the goals at El Sadar that day, with Gavi setting the former up during another dazzling display that shows why he is already a regular for Spain‘s national team at the age of 17. Xavi noted that all three had been “extraordinary,” but added it was “difficult to digest” that it was the young players “propping the team up.”
Barca’s young players have bailed them out several times this season. If it’s not Nico, Abde or Gavi, then it’s Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo or Pedri. The club’s financial crisis — which saw Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann leave last summer to ease the burden on the wage bill — has…
