2 days Ago By Liam Happe
Spain's 3-2 win over Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League at the weekend was 21-year-old Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado's second senior cap. However, his performance was that of someone who has done this at least a hundred times. The Euro 2024 winners had to take the lead three times to see off the stubborn Swiss, with Bryan Zaragoza's stoppage-time penalty finally enough to clinch victory.
And Casado's work in the engine-room position was met with universal praise. Goalscorer Zaragoza, for instance, felt the Barca prospect was the real hero of the team despite the Osasuna man's crucial spot-kick. “He’s an animal,” Zaragoza told SPORT , while describing the 21-year-old's skills as "outrageous".
“I don’t even know what to say about how he played. It’s an outrage," continued the attacker. You see them so small that then you are shocked by how he scratches.
" Villarreal's Yeremi Pino, also part of the match, concurred wholeheartedly. “He has given a recital, he has already shown his quality at Barça and now he has done it with the national team,” he said, also branding Casado "a machine". And national coach Luis de la Fuente also gushed over Casado's midfield maturity during the post-game press obligations.
“It was impressive how he played in a game and a half with the team, he looked like a veteran for the way he read the game,” he explained, describing the levels Casado was playing at already as "a surprise package". Is Marc Casado the next Sergio Busquets? Comparisons between Casado and Busquets have been inevitable, with the legendary ex-Barca enforcer himself speaking very highly of the youngster last week. "We already knew that he was very good because we knew him from training and from my last year at Barca," explained Busquets, "but the truth is that the level he is showing now is superlative.
It's spectacular." His 90-minute shift in the victory in Tenerife at the weekend is the latest, and perhaps most telling, suggestion that the La Liga leaders have not only the ideal successor for Busquets but the perfect young defensive midfielder for coach Hansi Flick and his demanding but successful style to invest in..
