Rafa Márquez celebrates his Barça academy players after their first goals!

After the match that faced FC Barcelona against Real Sociedad on matchday 26 of LaLiga, where two players who until last season were playing with Barça Atlètic scored their first goal with the first team, the Mexican Rafa Márquez demonstrated once again that he lives in the present of those who were his players.

These are Marc Casadó (midfielder) and Gerard Martín (left-back), who were key players of that team led by Márquez during the 2023-24 season, finishing in third place with 70 points. The Mexican legend managed the Barça reserve team from June 2022 to July 2024.

The 'Kaiser' through a post on the social network 'X' sent a message to his former players, revealing the happiness he feels for the work done in the lower categories of the club.

Journalist Guillem Borrás published a photo of Casadó and Gerard Martín with the caption...

“How proud @RafaMarquezMX must be with this photo”

...to which just a few minutes later the former Barça defender responded:

“More than you can imagine!!”.

Marc Casadó and Gerard Martín were precisely the ones who opened the scoring against Real. The left-back scored after a pass from Dani Olmo in the 25th minute, while the midfielder did so in the 29th, after a shot from Olmo that grazed him to find the back of the net.

Gerard Martín and Casadó under Rafa Márquez's direction

Gerard Martín joined the Barça reserve team in the summer of 2023, but it didn't take long for him to settle into the starting eleven, as he played 41 matches, 37 in the regular league and 4 in the playoffs. With the arrival of German coach Hansi Flick, the left-back ended up moving up to the first team this season and officially debuted in the match against Valencia at Mestalla, a venue that is by no means easy.

On the other hand, Marc Casadó, who has been with the azulgrana team since 2016, moved up to Barça Atlètic in the 2022-23 season, thus being under Rafa Márquez for a total of 66 matches, starting as a starter in 64.

In the same season, he received a call from then first team coach Xavi Hernández, and debuted in the group stage match of the UEFA Champions League against Viktoria Pilsen. In the summer of 2024, he officially became part of the first team, and after the injury of Marc Bernal he competed for his place in midfield with Frenkie de Jong.