Oscar Mingueza's chance to shine

Published on: 24 November 2020

Sometimes you only get one chance to show exactly what you are capable of, one chance to shine. On Tuesday night, it's the turn of promising Barcelona centre-back Oscar Mingueza.

The 21-year-old will start away to Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League as Ronald Koeman has decided to give Frenkie de Jong a rest after the Dutchman played a part in all three games for Netherlands during the international break, as well as Barcelona's 1-0 loss against Atletico Madrid last Saturday.

Mingueza, who was born in Santa Perpetua, has been at Barcelona his entire career, having first played for the club's U7s. Now, he is set to make his Champions League debut.

He is a tall central defender with great aerial presence and confidence, following some impressive displays with Barcelona's B team. The coach of that side, Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta, and other previous coaches that the youngster has had all believe that he has what it takes to be a true leader.

Despite being a tall player, Mingueza's footwork is excellent and he has no problems adjusting to the full-back position if needs be.

Mingueza was also a part of the Barcelona youth team that went on to win the UEFA Youth League in 2018.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of the Dynamo game, Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman intimated that the centre-back may be given a chance.

"Oscar to start the match is an option" said the Dutch coach.

Barcelona have only taken two centre-backs for the trip to Kiev in Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza, which makes it very clear that the youngster will feature in Tuesday night's game.

Ronald Araujo is currently on the road to recovery and is training alone, but he will not be risked as it is thought that he will be the player to cover the long-term injury sustained by Gerard Pique. Samuel Umtiti is also unavailable for another two weeks.

"When there are injuries, we give chances to other players" Koeman added.

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Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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