Hansi Flick's most Spanish crest
Gerard Martín has established himself as a left-footed centre-back alongside Pau Cubarsí
BarcelonaA shaky start to the season, especially in defense, instilled in Barcelona fans the feeling that the team would pay dearly for Iñigo Martínez's departure from Barcelona to join Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr. The Basque center-back was happy in the Catalan capital – in fact, he gave his third son, born in Barcelona, a Catalan name, Pol – but the financial offer from the Saudi Arabian club meant signing his last major contract as a professional at 34. Signed by Xavi Hernández and Mateu Alemany, the Basque defender became a favorite of Hansi Flick, who understood his move to the Persian Gulf as financially motivated. Iñigo Martínez left behind a great season with Barça, establishing himself as the leader of the defense and a key player in the offside trap that proved so successful for Barça last season. How can we forget that Clásico against Real Madrid where the Barça defenders brought down the Whites offside a staggering 12 times? The center-back from Ondarroa became the best mentor for Pau Cubarsí, who, after debuting under Xavi Hernández, became a regular in the starting eleven under Hansi Flick, partnering with the Basque defender.
Without Iñigo Martínez and with numerous absences in defense this season, the leadership role in that line has been shared between Cubarsí himself and Eric Garcia, who has had a superb season, only hampered by an overload that has sidelined him in recent matches. Neither Andreas Christensen, plagued by injuries, nor Ronald Araujo, who would eventually need to stop due to anxiety, despite being more experienced, stepped up to fill the long shadow cast by the former Athletic Club player. The initial coexistence between Cubarsí and Eric, however, presented a new scenario with an added difficulty for the center-back from Estanyol: his preferred position, where he is most comfortable, is on the right side of the defense. This is how he played with Iñigo Martínez, who, in turn, preferred the left. Aside from his defensive actions, Cubarsí excels at breaking lines with his ball distribution, but with his position reversed, he struggles more in this area. This prompted Hansi Flick to make a bold move, deciding to try something new: moving a left-footed player like Gerard Martín from full-back to centre-back.
The debut of the Cubarsí-Gerard pairing
After testing him in training, the moment of truth arrived in November, at home, coinciding with the return to the Camp Nou against Athletic Club. He debuted in the left center-back position alongside Cubarsí, keeping a clean sheet (4-0) in a very comfortable match for Barça. First test passed with flying colors. Five months later, they have established themselves as a solid center-back pairing in the heart of Barça's defense.
In fact, given the circumstances resulting from injuries, and also due to their strong performances, they are the starting center-back pairing during one of the most crucial stretches of the season. They have played together, for example, in both legs of the tie against Newcastle – with Gerard actively involved in the 4-2, making the pass to Raphinha before the Brazilian's assist to Fermín – and in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Atlético de Madrid. In the fateful first leg, Gerard only played the last five minutes.
"Gerard is having a spectacular season. He feels comfortable, and I try to help him in any way I can. He can play at full-back, at centre-back... but he performs well everywhere. I'm very happy with him," Cubarsí said before the thrashing of Newcastle. "Now I'm playing almost every game at centre-back and I feel comfortable there. Defensive work is the responsibility of the whole team," the Esplugues de Llobregat native added after the match.
15 games together, no defeat
In total, the Cubarsí-Gerard pairing has played 15 matches together this season. Barça hasn't lost a single one of them. On the contrary, they've won all but one, the 1-1 draw in Newcastle in the first leg. In more than half of those matches (7), Barça has kept a clean sheet. Hansi Flick also relies on the two young Catalans for their ball distribution. According to La Liga data, Cubarsí is the player in the competition with the highest passing accuracy: 94.7% (1,931 successful passes out of 2,039 attempts in 23 matches). Gerard, with the same number of La Liga appearances but 700 fewer minutes played than the defender from Estanyol, is twelfth on this list, with 90.6% accuracy (1,103 successful passes out of 1,217 attempts). Furthermore, the arrival of João Cancelo allows the player from Esplugues to play in the center-back position. The Portuguese player has played more on the left wing than on the right.