Barcelona fans have lauded their academy player Marc Casado for his performance during their 3-0 win against Ligue 1 side Brest in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday (November 26). Casado was impressive at the base of La Blaugrana’s midfield once again.
Barcelona welcomed Brest to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, hoping to return to winning ways after blowing away a two-goal lead against Celta Vigo in La Liga to settle for a draw (November 23).
Hansi Flick’s men started asserting their dominance from the very first kick of the game. They opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Robert Lewandowski assumed responsibility from the spot.
Midway through the second half, Dani Olmo doubled Barcelona’s tally (66'). The former RB Leipzig man received a pass from Gerard Martin and shimmied past Brendan Chardonnet before slotting coolly past goalkeeper Marco Bizot. There was still time for Lewandowski to add a third for Barcelona and bag a brace in stoppage time (90+2').
Although Pau Cubarsi won the Man of the Match award, Marc Casado had a great game. The defensive midfielder recorded 106 touches, 98% accurate passes (91/93), made two key passes and four long balls that were all accurate, and had a rating of 7.6 (as per Sofascore).
Here is how fans reacted to Casado’s performance on X. One fan wrote:
''Casado is elite man, he’s indispensable to this set-up.''
Another tweeted;
''Casado na proper monster of a baller.''
''Yes he is the core of this system,'' @devilpc77 opined.
''Literally no ball gets past casado. we’re really gonna feel his absence when we play las palmas,'' @3hunnniddd wrote.
''Marc Casado vs Brest: 105 Touches, 90/92 Accurate Passes, 98% Pass Accuracy, 2 Key Passes, 1 Big Chance Created, 1/1 Accurate Cross, 4/4 Accurate Long Balls, 7 Ground Duels Won, 3 Tackles, 4 Times was fouled, 3 Ball Recoveries,'' @ArsenKveFCB pointed out his stats.
''Show Casado the money,'' @doskhano chimed in.
Marc Casado will not be available for Barcelona's next LaLiga match against Las Palmas on Saturday (November 30). He was shown a red card in La Blaugrana's last league game against Celta Vigo in the 82nd minute.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick assessed his side’s 3-0 victory over Brest. The German manager was happy with the performance of his players and said the victory would help them pick up a bit of confidence.
He told the club’s website:
"We have shown how we can be strong. Our objective is to finish in the top eight. We are prepared for everything. We dominated the game and we attacked and defended well. Pressing is part of our style and it is a quick route to goal. We did very well and we are moving in the right direction. This win allows us to pick up a bit of confidence."
The Catalan club are second in the UCL standings, amassing 12 points in five games.