While 1-1 draw against Athletic was a disappointing result for Barcelona, their second 20-21 LaLiga game saw Yusuf Demir make his debut for the club. The Austria international replaced Martin Braithwaite at the hour mark and became the youngest non-Spanish player for the club since Lionel Messi.
The 18-year-old joined Barcelona B this summer from Austrian outfit Rapid Vienna and has impressed everyone in pre-season; therefore, head coach Ronald Koeman has decided to hand him a club debut against Bilbao.
The Austrian aged 18 years and 80 days is the youngest foreign debutant for the Blaugrana since Messi. The Argentine, who joined PSG on August 10, made his Barca debut in 20014 at the age of 17 years 114 days.
Koeman pointed out that it was tough for the Austrian youngster. However, he also feels that this experience will only help Demir develop into a better player:
“Demir has had a hard time in the big San Mames stadium because he’s still very young, but it is very good for him to have made his debut here to begin to adapt to football of this level.”
The Catalans had a rampant start to their La Liga season with a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad. However, they were not at their best on their trip to San Mames. They missed several chances and were pegged back when Inigo Martinez handed Bilbao the lead.
However, Memphis Depay came up with a thunderbolt to share the spoils. The game, however, did not end well for the visitors as their new defender Eric Garcia was sent off moments before full-time.
