The Barça trident was born at the Camp Nou in January 2015, after scoring 3-1 against Atlético. The three forwards, 9, 10 and 11, hugged each other’s shoulders in full revelry. That photograph immortalized a stage of a Barcelona team that won its fifth Champions League in Berlin. The last. There has not been another.
On Friday there was another celebration that excited Barcelona fans. It was not at the Camp Nou, under construction, but at Montjuïc. The rival was not a direct competitor but Mallorca. There weren’t three players either, just two. Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, magnetic with the ball at their feet, put their arms around their necks, laughed, shared confidences and congratulated each other after being the main protagonists of Barcelona’s victory – the winger’s goal in the 73rd minute.
Born in 2007, they were just children when the Berlin treble was won. Now they are still teenagers but they embody the paradigm shift that the team and the club are experiencing. They are people from the house, friends for a long time, trained at La Masia and, despite being minors, they are already differential in the elite.
Messi, Suárez and Neymar were South Americans, world stars, who got together after playing in the World Cup in Brazil. The club paid more than 160 million for the Uruguayan and the Brazilian. In three seasons with Luis Enrique, they scored 363 goals.
Nothing to do with the protagonists of the snapshot that defines 2024. Lamine Yamal grew up in Mataró (Maresme) and Cubarsí was born in Estanyol (Gironés), they come from regions, they are homegrown, still youthful. They are 27 and 33, numbers more typical of bingo than football that suggest that they are beginning their careers.
The numbers they wear on their backs add up to more than the games they have played in the elite. Lamine Yamal has 37 minutes this season (plus the seven minutes of his debut last year) and has exceeded 2,000 minutes while Cubarsí, who debuted in January in Salamanca in the Cup, has 11 under his belt. “They are two players who can mark an era,” predicted Xavi Hernández, who made their debut and has given them responsibilities without looking at the DNI, only their abilities.
The central defender, just 17 years old, was promoted despite having the position more than well covered with Araújo, Christensen, Iñigo Martínez and Koundé. He preferred him to the Senegalese Faye, a pillar of the reserve team. He fell in love with his exit from behind, which comes naturally to him, his tense passes that always gain meters and his bravery. Against Mallorca he gave 29 of his 80 passes in the opposite field. But he also “doesn’t lose duels.” He did not do it with Larin or Muriqi nor with Samu, Budimir, Strand Larsen or Guruzeta. “He is hierarchical, very intelligent, he knows when to crash… What he has done is spectacular,” he defined him.
They didn’t look at the forward, even at 16, at the beginning of the course. He asked for the ball and it didn’t come to him. Now it is a preferential solution, if not the first that the team has to attack. He wants to be influential, decisive. He doesn’t burn the ball, he has a dribble, he crosses well and sees the goal with ease. With 6 goals he is the fourth scorer on the squad, two behind João Félix. “He made the difference with a goal that he invented,” explained the coach, who knows that he has two gems on his hands. With them and their generation companions, imagining his progression, well taken care of, the year is already very productive. A new chapter awaits them on Tuesday: the Champions League.
