Barcelona secured their first piece of silverware under Xavi as they lifted the Supercopa de España in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday night.
There’s a real feeling that a shift in power is taking place domestically with the Blaugrana not only sweeping Real Madrid aside in the cup, but also leading the way in La Liga by a cool three points.
Truth be told, Carlo Ancelotti’s men never seemed like lifting the Super Cup as they looked distinctly second best throughout 90 minutes of action at the King Fahd International Stadium.
The ‘tika-taka’ brand of football that Xavi so enjoyed channeling during his time as a player at Camp Nou was once again on display as he watched on from the technical area.
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And at the heart of so much of Barcelona‘s success in the Middle East was none other than Gavi, who stands out as one of the leading young talents in the men’s game right now.
Not only did the 18-year-old open the scoring with a fine finish past Thibaut Courtois, but he also laid on goals for Robert Lewandowski and Pedri in the convincing 3-1 triumph.
In fact, Gavi was so unstoppable at the heart of Barca’s metronomic midfield that a certain Dani Ceballos, who entered the fray for Real in the second-half, went to rather extravagant lengths in order to stop him.
What did Dani Ceballos do to Gavi?
That’s because footage from Movistar+ has shown the moment it all kicked off when the Real midfielder stooped to grabbing Gavi by the hair during a break in play.
In a channeling of football’s dark arts akin to Pepe and Sergio Ramos in their prime, Ceballos can be seen sparking tense scenes between the Barcelona and Real players having gotten a really good fistful of Gavi’s locks.
Understandably, the Barca youngster was not best pleased with being pulled back in such a painful manner and proceeded to push Ceballas in the chest before walking away.
With a particularly animated Vinicius Junior then getting himself amongst the fracas, it just served to show that while El Clasico might have lost some of its star power that it hasn’t lost any of its needle.
It wouldn’t be El Clasico without a bit of tension, would it?
And let’s face it, the fact that Gavi was getting under the skin of the Real players so much in the first place is a credit to just how destructive he’s proving to be pulling the strings in Xavi’s midfield.
He might make us all feel hideously old by way of being born in 2004(!!!), but his maturity on the pitch resembles that of someone who’s been playing at the highest level for a decade or more.
And with the footage going onto show even more tense scenes with Nacho bringing him to ground, you wouldn’t be far wrong in suggesting that Gavi was living in the Real players’ heads rent-free.
Not bad for an 18-year-old, huh?
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