Barcelona starlet Pau Cubarsí has caused quite the stir at Córdoba CF over the course of the last 48 hours.
As much comes ahead of Córdoba’s impending promotion playoff finale meeting with Barca Atlètic.
The two sides will lock horns in the first of a two-legged affair this weekend, with a place in the 2nd division of Spanish football on the line.
This comes after Córdoba got the better of Ponferradina, with Barcelona’s latest crop of up-and-coming talent having proven too much for Ibiza.
As alluded to above, though, in the buildup to Sunday’s showpiece fixture, controversy has been sparked.
This comes amid suggestions that Pau Cubarsí could yet go on to play a part in the tie.
Stopper Cubarsí, despite a remarkable breakthrough onto the senior stage at Barcelona over the 2nd half of the season, was over the weekend omitted from Spain’s final squad for the European Championships.
Still eligible to line out for Barca Atlètic, the question of the 17-year-old’s potential participation with his side over the next couple of weeks, in turn, was on Sunday put to Rafa Márquez.
And the Mexican tactician did not exactly rule out as much, in responding:
“It is not something that depends on me, but on the club. If it is, good, and if not, also.”
Safe to say, though, that such chatter has not gone down at all well behind the scenes at Barca Atlètic’s upcoming opponents.
As per a report from Diario Sport, there is ‘panic’ at Córdoba, surrounding the potential advantage which the Blaugrana would secure in the case of Cubarsí featuring in the tie:
‘From Córdoba voices were raised against the theoretical ‘advantages’ that their opponents would have,’ it is confirmed.
The fact of the matter, though, is that with the player himself already on vacation, his return to base in Barcelona with a view to just two fixtures is highly unlikely.
Conor Laird | GSFN