Getty Ansu Fati celebrates against Real Madrid
Barcelona teenager Ansu Fati added yet another record to his collection on Saturday when he netted against Real Madrid in El Clasico at the Camp Nou.
The 17-year-old swept home an equalizer for the hosts on eight minutes to become the youngest goalscorer in the famous fixture in the 21st century.
1 – Aged 17 years and 359 days, @FCBarcelona‘s Ansu Fati has become the youngest player to score in #ElClásico in all comps in the 21st century, breaking the previous record held by Vinícius Júnior (19y 233d). Star.
Fati is no stranger to breaking records. He’s already written his name in the history books on several occasions since making his debut for Barcelona last season.
—Barcelona’s youngest scorer
—Spain’s youngest scorer
—Youngest player to score and assist in a La Liga game
—Barcelona’s youngest UCL player
—Youngest Champions League scorer
—Youngest #ElClasico scorer
Ansu Fati, did we miss anything!? 😅
The goal was also the 400th that Barcelona has scored against their bitter rivals.
Fati also collected La Liga’s Player of the Month award for September ahead of kick-off against Los Blancos. The teenager scooped the trophy after scoring three goals in wins over Villarreal and Celta Vigo.
🥇 @ANSUFATI receives the award for September Player of the Month in #LaLigaSantander ahead of kick-off.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
The game at the Camp Nou started quickly with Fede Valverde opening the scoring for Real Madrid after just five minutes. Fati hit minutes later to restore parity for the hosts.
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Koeman Names Three Teenagers in Starting XI
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman raised eyebrows with his starting XI for Saturday’s crunch match. He named three teenagers in his team and left World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann on the bench.
𝓔𝓵 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓸 𝓛𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓾𝓹
Fati and summer signing Pedri, are both still 17, while 19-year-old Sergino Dest got the nod at right-back ahead of Sergi Roberto. Dest also becomes the first American to ever feature in El Clasico.
Sergio Ramos returned for Real Madrid after injury, while Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Vinicius Jr also returned after being rested in midweek in the Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Koeman Stays True to His Word
Koeman’s decision to keep faith with his young players should come as little surprise given the Dutch coach’s comments in his pre-match press conference. The Barca boss said he would pick his team on merit.
The most important thing is the performance of each player. I see no problem with having young people. To have experience they have to play games. I only think of the best team for tomorrow, it does not depend on the age of a player.
We try to change things and the most important thing is the quality of the players. It is good that we have changed the team a bit, with young players. Ansu Fati is already playing in the national team and he will be a star, but he has to work hard. We are going to help him to be one of the best in the world, just like with the rest of the youth.
Fati showed once again why he deserves his spot in the Barcelona team with his fifth goal of 2020-21 already in all competitions. The 17-year-old is the Catalan giants’ top scorer so far this season, outscoring both Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho.
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