It was more out of necessity than conviction, but La Masia put their head in Kiev in the vitamin victory of a very young and experimental Barça against Dinamo Kiev. Ronald Koeman wanted to highlight the freshness of his team and highlighted the “collective game” ahead of the individuals, but between the good performance of Sergiño Dest and the goals of Martin Braithwaite, two players forged in the Barça squad went stand out on Ukrainian soil: Carles Aleñá and Óscar Mingueza. The two have developed all their training in the lower categories of Barça – such as former Barça players Sergi Sàmper and Martí Riverola – and, due to the avalanche of injuries and the tight schedule of matches, both can continue to play a leading role. Especially Mingueza, who, according to the Dutch coach, “has many options” to play today against Osasuna (2pm, Movistar LaLiga).
With the casualties of Gerard Piqué, a long-term injured player, and Roland Araújo, who is still not recovering from the injury to the biceps femoris of his right thigh who has been out of action for a month, all indications are that Mingueza will repeat in position of central against the Navarrese set. “He is a young boy who has been at Barça for many years, which makes him very familiar with the concepts of how we want to play. He has to improve, like any other young player. He has only played one game with us, but he has made a very good impression and there is a good chance that he will play again this Sunday “, explained Koeman after his team’s good match against Dinamo.
Dest, doubt until the last moment
There is another initially unforeseen scenario that also opens the door for Mingueza to repeat today as a starter after debuting on Tuesday in Kiev. Sergiño Dest is suffering from muscle problems and will be in doubt until the last minute before the match. “He has nothing serious, because he has trained well, but he ended up tired after the game against Dinamo and has had some discomfort in his leg. We have to wait until tomorrow [per avui] to decide if he can play or not. What is clear is that we will not take any chances. If he is not well, another will play in his place “, Koeman explained yesterday.
And this other one could be Mingueza. “He has many options to play, it will also depend on how Dest is,” repeated Koeman, who tested the hypothesis that the 21-year-old defender, born in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, in the Vallès Occidental, could act as a winger. In fact, one of the first times Ronald Koeman saw Mingueza live playing an official match was on the first day of Group E of the Second Division B, at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, which pitted the subsidiary against Gimnàstic de Tarragona.
In that match, in which Francesc Xavier García Pimienta’s team won 1-0, Mingueza played the full 90 minutes as a left winger and acted as captain. Koeman, who has been spotted on more than one occasion by the Johan Cruyff Stadium along with his second, Henrik Larsson, to watch the subsidiary matches, took note of their versatility. Since then, he has become a regular part of the first team’s calls and training dynamics, although his presence was temporarily interrupted by an injury to his thigh. Mingueza’s story is that of a footballer closely linked to La Masia. Her sister, Ariadna Mingueza, also plays for Barça, specifically for the women’s team. The center-back is one of the four captains of Barça B, where he is signing his third season.
Koeman praises Aleñá’s effort
Who also knows the house perfectly is Carles Aleñá. The injury of Sergio Busquets, already recovered, and the decision to give rest to De Jong against Dinamo opened the doors to the first owner of the course. Koeman refuses to talk about what can happen in the winter market – Aleña, due to lack of minutes, last season was transferred to Betis, where he participated in 17 of the 20 league games, and was holder in set–. With the Dutch coach’s 4-2-3-1 system, hitherto unmovable, Koeman insists on Aleñá’s conversion as a pivot and praised him: “With the change of system, it cost him a bit at first of the season, but he is working hard to play as a pivot ”.
The coach, who turned 100 on the Barça bench yesterday, cannot turn his back on the home players to get the “reaction” he wants in the League.
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