Demir, Balde and Collado show Koeman just what they can do

Demir, Balde and Collado show Koeman just what they can do

| sport

The youngsters had good games in the 4-0 win over Nastic on Wednesday

Barca’s first preseason game went well, with a 4-0 win over Nastic. Ronald Koeman gave a lot of youngsters the chance to shine and Yusuf Demir, Alejandro Balde and Alex Collado did just that.

Demir is one of the sensations of pre-season so far. The young Austrian arrived recently in Barcelona and he’s going to play for Barca B, but Ronald Koeman has been impressed. He could be one who steps up sooner rather than later. He had a couple of efforts at goal, played some good passes and he was a headache for the defence, linking well with his new team-mates.

Balde did well in the defence of Umtiti, Pique and Dest, showing his quality with runs up the wing and good crosses. Sergi Roberto almost scored from one. Balde, who will renew his contract with the club, could replace Jordi Alba at left back further down the line.

After the break, Koeman put out a team that could have been a Barca B side last season.

Alex Collado, who’s now a first team player, was captain and played in midfield with Pablo Paez ‘Gavi’, who had a good game too. Collado was active and scored a goal, which took a deflection.

Koeman was watching on and no doubt, he’ll remember these performances.

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