Pau Cubarsí continues to establish himself as one of the best young defenders today. And it's no wonder, as the Estanyol native is showing increasing solidity in the defense of FC Barcelona, where he is delivering standout performances both locally and in the international competitions the team participates in.
The most recent proof of this was the match between Barcelona and Stade Brestois (3-0). Despite Robert Lewandowski's brilliant offensive performance, who scored two of the three goals for the Blaugrana in that match against the 'Pirates', including the historic 100th goal by the Polish striker in the UEFA Champions League, Pau Cubarsí ended up as the 'MVP' of the match.
This recognition as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) is clearly based not only on his defensive attitude but also on his outstanding performance in the offensive aspect, where once again he proved to be a key pillar for Barcelona in building up play from the defensive line.
Among his impressive stats is an astonishing average of 110 successful passes out of 115 attempts (96%), as well as a significant number of completed long passes, with 13 out of 15 successful attempts. Truly impeccable numbers that reflect the solidity of Pau Cubarsí as one of the main architects of Barcelona's offensive aspirations.
The other recognition that UEFA gave to Cubarsí for his outstanding performance against Brest
Now, this stellar performance against Stade Brestois not only earned him the title of the best player of the match but also led him to be considered by UEFA as one of the best players of the fifth matchday of the Champions League. As evidence of this, the European football governing body included him in the starting lineup of the most outstanding players on that matchday of the most important team competition in Europe.
In this regard, UEFA has decided to place Pau Cubarsí in their 4-4-2 formation, in a defensive line that includes other standout players of this matchday, such as Jurriën Timber from Arsenal, Kim Min-jae from Bayern Munich, and Rami Bensebaini from Borussia Dortmund. It's worth noting that behind this defensive line is the 'guardian', Caoimhín Kelleher, who shone between the posts in the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
In the midfield, where there are four players, Rade Krunić from Red Star appears as the holding midfielder, with Alexis Mac Allister from Liverpool on the right, Malik Tillman from PSV on the left, along with Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen as the attacking midfielder. Finally, the striker duo consists of the lethal Argentine from Atlético Madrid, Julián Álvarez, and the Italian forward from Atalanta, Mateo Retegui.