At Barcelona, the centre-back position is known for sparking debates, in part because of the club’s reluctance to invest in central defenders, in part because those players seem prone to injury.
Media as well as Barca fans have suggested the club’s defence is an Achilles heel likely to be exposed by quality opposition – in La Liga as well as the Uefa Champions League.
Luis Enrique, Barcelona’s new manager, in the summer added the Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu, from Valencia, and the Belgian Thomas Vermaelen, from Arsenal, to bring depth at the position where Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano are first-choice players.
Which leaves Marc Bartra, the 23-year-old Catalan and product of Barca’s highly regarded La Masia academy, even further down in the pecking order.
So far, Bartra is keeping his cool.
“The coach and the club understood in summer that the team needed to strengthen defensively,” Bartra said in a phone interview with The National. “The new signings have been very well received by everyone at the club.
“They come here, obviously, to make the team better and competition is good for everybody because they help us to improve.”
During Gerardo Martino’s season with the club, Bartra was given significant stretches of playing time, though it could be argued his appearances in the first XI were more about injuries to Carles Puyol and Pique.
While coaching Barcelona’s reserve team, Enrique was a key figure in the development of elite players during the club’s glory years under coach Pep Guardiola. After taking over at Camp Nou, Enrique advanced the careers of home-grown players such as Munir El Haddadi, the 19-year-old forward, and Rafinha, the 21-year-old midfielder.
Bartra, still 23 despite making his senior debut in 2010, hopes he will get his chance under Enrique, as well.
“It is my third full season with the senior team and I feel I am ready to help out in whatever position the coach asks me, whether in the league, the Champions League or the Copa del Rey,” he said. “I’m fit and ready and I’m waiting for my chance.”
Bartra made 30 appearances during the 2013/14 season and got some unfortunate attention when Gareth Bale sprinted past him and scored a memorable, 85th-minute goal in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Barca in the Copa del Rey final.
What is not generally recalled is that it was Bartra’s goal, off a corner in the 68th minute, that allowed Barcelona to equalise.
Despite only two appearances with Barca this season, ahead of Wednesday night’s La Liga match at Malaga, Bartra has been on the radar of Vicente del Bosque, the national team coach.
Del Bosque promised a new look in the Spain side after their early ouster at the 2014 World Cup, and Bartra played against both France and Macedonia in friendlies in the summer, his first appearances with the senior side. Bartra was part of Spain’s Uefa Under 21 champions last year.
“The coach has already said after the World Cup in Brazil that a new stage begins with the international team and, as we have seen, he has given an opportunity to the young players who come through the U21 team,” he said.
“There was a lot of excitement in the camp with the new era and the coach has shown us his confidence in youth players. I am very enthusiastic and happy with the call-up to the international team.”
As the league season moves ahead, Bartra said Barcelona no longer assume Real present their only significant opposition, not after Atletico Madrid won the league last year and reached the Champions League final.
“Real Madrid have strengthened but they have also sold some of their most important players last season,” he said, referring to Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso. “Atletico Madrid, despite the departures [of Diego Costa and Filipe Luis], have signed a lot of good players, like Antoine Greizmann, and continue to maintain the same patterns of play like last season.
“Atletico is the current champion and they will want to retain the title.”
Asked about football in the region, Bartra said European coaches and players are taking notice.
“Clearly, football in the Middle East is growing very fast, more and more players, European players and coaches, decide to go there and this means that the standard of football is up there.
“I appreciate all my and Barcelona fans in the UAE. Through social media, we aim to reach all corners of the world and, of course, our fans in the UAE.”
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