Expected to get the nod after his progression to the senior squad, Riqui Puig made an impressive cameo from the 71st minute onwards which saw him complete more passes than any other player on the opposition and receive the ball from Lionel Messi more times than the Argentine’s strike partners Antoine Griezmann and Ansu Fati had across the whole match.
Robbing the ball on the left wing, he smartly palmed it off to Sergio Busquets and thus triggered a move that took in Tiki Taka touches from Messi, Griezmann and Arturo Vidal before the Chilean eventually backheeled it into the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s path for him to convert the 76th minute winner.
The morning after the win, Barça’s social media accounts sent fans into raptures by posting a photo of De Jong, Puig and Arthur in training reproduced below.
And when it was later revealed that pivot Busquets will not travel to Ibiza to contest Wednesday’s Copa del Rey last 32 tie, excitement increased further that the trio could, on the famous Balearic isle, feature together for the first time.
Speaking of which, then, it is possible that this evening and in future meetings when Busquets is unavailable, De Jong will fill his boots as pivot. Racing ahead in assists until his 2019/2020 campaign was brought to a temporary halt, Arthur will therefore be able to focus on feeding a front line of Fati, Griezmann and Carles Perez while Puig attempts to further dazzle his new manager any way he can.
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