Pau Cubarsi has publicly admitted that Barcelona are thin at his own position. Speaking on RAC1’s Tu Diràs while on international duty with Spain, the 19-year-old was asked about the centre-back rotation and offered a franker verdict than the club has given itself.
“It’s well covered. Gerard has shown that it’s well covered, although perhaps now, with Christensen’s injury, we’re short of a centre-back,” Cubarsi said.
Christensen was withdrawn around the hour mark of Barcelona’s 3-1 win at Sevilla, and the club later confirmed the diagnosis: a muscle injury to the rectus femoris of his left quadriceps. AS has reported that the Dane will not be available until November, meaning he will miss La Liga meetings with Getafe, Real Madrid and Real Betis, plus Champions League fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain and Galatasaray.
Gerard Martin holds the line
The player already deputising is Gerard Martin, converted from left-back into central defence.
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“Gerard started out as a full-back, then switched to centre-back, and the truth is that perhaps at first people didn’t have much faith in him, but he’s done spectacularly well,” Cubarsi said. “He’s a very hard-working lad and things are going well for him.”
Behind Martin, Hansi Flick has only Eric García left as a natural centre-back, with Jules Koundé available to move inside from right-back if the fixture list demands it.
Rodri fits the philosophy
Cubarsi was also asked about the summer’s headline signing. Rodri joined from Manchester City on 18 August for a €76.5m fee on a contract until 2030, arriving in Catalonia after being voted the World Cup’s best player in July.
“I think everyone who has joined has arrived at a very high standard. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to fit in so well with our philosophy right from the start, and they’re all raring to go, keen to achieve great things,” Cubarsi said of the new arrivals.
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‘I didn’t realise I’d saved it’
Cubarsi ended the summer as the 2026 FIFA World Cup Young Player, after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium. He said it has taken him weeks to come to terms with the intervention that helped seal it.
“I was very tired, I collapsed to the ground and wasn’t one hundred per cent convinced of what I’d done. But later, when I saw the replay, I realised I’d saved it,” he said.
“It wasn’t so much my legs as my head that needed clearing a bit.”
Barcelona next face Getafe in La Liga, with Cubarsi and Martin expected to be Flick’s centre-back pairing until Christensen returns.
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