Barcelona’s Golden Boy Gavi has earned the highest praise from none other than Barcelona legend Carles Puyol. The young star showed his courageous side during Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao last Sunday.
Gavi returned to the starting eleven after having missed the last game against Valencia due to suspension. Gavi is known for showing skills and game intelligence that an 18-year-old usually doesn’t show. However, he also displayed a fearless side against Athletic Bilbao as he put his body on the line.
The young midfielder used his head to produce an important tackle that prevented Bilbao’s midfielder Dani Garcia to make a pass to his forwards.
Que alguien le diga a Gavi que pare de hacer estas cosas pic.twitter.com/RRTGZhXlvv
— Comunacho šŖš¦ (@Comunacho1) March 12, 2023
It wasn’t the last time he used his head to produce a tackle as he did it again this time to prevent Raul Garcia from getting the ball first.
https://twitter.com/_yj144/status/1635028916397289473?s=20
Barcelona’s legendary center-back Carles Puyol also saw the match and couldn’t help but praise Gavi for his ferociousness. The ex-Barcelona captain was also famous for producing hard tackles and for putting his body on the line to prevent goals. He was impressed by Gavi and took to Twitter to show his appreciation.
He simply wrote “Gavi” along with three clapping hands emojis.
Gavi ššš
— Carles Puyol (@Carles5puyol) March 12, 2023
Puyol was a beast at Barcelona’s defense and won 21 titles there. He is remembered as one of Barcelona and Spains’s finest defenders having won three Champions League and a World Cup.
Since breaking into the scene from La Masia at just 17 years old, Gavi has become an integral part of both Xavi’s Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Last year also saw him win the prestigious Golden Boy award for his exploits at such a young age.
Barcelona had to grab all three points at San Mames with grit as they struggled against Bilbao. They won the game with a Raphinha goal just a little bit before halftime was sounded. Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegan was also on form having prevented opposition players from scoring multiple times which earned him the Man of the Match award as well.
The win puts Barcelona on top of the La Liga table and nine points ahead of rivals and second-placed Real Madrid. They will now face each other in another El Clasico as Real Madrid will travel to Spotify Camp Nou in what appears to be an exciting fixture.