The first surprising thing was that it took Newcastle until the 86th minute to finally take the lead in the feverish atmosphere of last week’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg at St James’ Park.
Barcelona had been suffering in a match they could not control, and Harvey Barnes’ strike looked to have sealed a famous win for the Premier League side. In response, Hansi Flick made an unexpected move.
Down on the bench, 18-year-old Xavi Espart was told to get ready. He came on to replace Ronald Araujo, Barcelona’s captain, who looked exhausted and was out of position for Newcastle’s goal.
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It was Espart’s first senior appearance. He ended up with about nine minutes on the pitch, including the period of stoppage time that allowed Lamine Yamal to level the tie at 1-1 with a 96th-minute equaliser.
Before that, he made two challenges in the penalty box, including a well-timed slide tackle on Joe Willock, and a determined block to win possession in midfield. In a very short space of time, there was enough there to ensure Barcelona fans would remember it. There’s no chance Espart will forget the experience, and all signs point to there being much more to come from him.
Espart left the pitch with a joyous smile on his face, geed up by Pau Cubarsi, a former La Masia team-mate he first played with back in 2018. Cubarsi, 19, has already made 118 Barca appearances.
Spain’s Champions League broadcasters and several other national media all wanted to speak with Espart. As soon as he finished press duties, Barca’s staff walked him out of the stadium, where another surprise was waiting.
Nobody was expecting Espart to make his debut, so the only member of his family that travelled to the game was his sister, and she only did so because she is spending this year studying in Manchester.
Four days later, with Flick rotating his side for Sunday’s home La Liga match against Sevilla, Espart got his first Barca start and played the full 90 minutes. It was another encouraging performance in a 5-2 victory.
Few are expecting Espart to be involved in the return leg against Newcastle at the Camp Nou later today, at least not as a starter, but from what we know already, he certainly has a big chance of progressing further under Flick this season.
Espart is another member of the outrageously talented generation of 2007-born players at La Masia — just like Yamal, Cubarsi, and Marc Bernal. They made their senior debuts at the ages of 15, 16 and 17 respectively. Espart, however, has developed a little more under the radar.
He joined Barca’s youth academy at the age of eight, back in 2015. He was born in Barcelona and played for local clubs CE Europa and Vilassar de Mar, before La Masia’s scouting network spotted him through Isidre Gil, the same scout who recommended Yamal.
His last year and a half at the club has been outstanding. He was fundamental in the treble won by Barca’s under-19s last season — they won their domestic league and cup as well as the UEFA Youth League under the orders of former club player Juliano Belletti, 49.
Espart played for Barca’s under-19s against Newcastle earlier this season (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
For 2025-26, Espart was promoted to Barca Atletic, the club’s reserve team, which Belletti now manages, in Spain’s fourth tier. But he has also continued with the under-19s in the UEFA Youth League. In September, when Barca first met Newcastle in the Champions League this term, he played in the under-19 equivalent fixture.
Pau Moral, a former La Masia youth coach now at the academy of Qatari side Al Rayyan, worked with Espart in 2017, when he was 11. He says he first started out as a holding midfielder.
“He was a textbook Barca player,” Moral says. “He was so intelligent, he understood every concept in seconds and read the game at a faster pace than anyone else. This is basically what allows him to play as a right-back. He is so clever that he can play anywhere. Technically, I’d say he’s among the best I’ve ever coached, alongside Gavi.
“The one thing with him was that he was tiny. You could barely make out the shape of his body because the kit was so big on him.”
At that age group, players were separated into four different teams, from A to D. The general rule is that the best and oldest kids go to the A team. That is where Yamal went. Espart, meanwhile, played for the D team.
“Espart’s physical development played a big part in him being selected for the D team,” says Moral. “Don’t get it wrong, though, the team was fantastic and won the league comfortably, despite facing kids that were a year older. But in this generation, there was a crazy amount of talented players in midfield.”
Barca’s under-14 team for 2020-21. Espart is second from the left in the front row. To his left are sitting Juan Hernandez, Cubarsi, Bernal, and Yamal (FC Barcelona)
Behind every kid who comes through La Masia, there are several more who drop out each summer, dozens of players who are told they have not made the cut. It is a cruel part of the game. Espart was not one of them, but there was a point when others were ahead of him in the midfield pecking order. David Saez, Dani Avila and Quim Junyent were profiles mentioned before Espart’s.
Three years ago, there was a turning point.
Espart was playing for Barca’s under-16 A team when the two right-backs got injured and the manager had to find an emergency solution. Due to his tactical intelligence, Espart was chosen, and it went so well that he has not looked back since.
“When I see him play, I like how confident he is with the ball,” Flick said of Espart in a press conference last week. “He is similar to Philipp Lahm; he can play as a six or as a two. He performs well on and off the ball.”
Espart first caught Flick’s eye in October when training with the first team. The coaching staff was so impressed that they could see his debut coming sooner rather than later. But in November, when he was on international duty with Spain’s under-19s, he picked up a knee injury that kept him sidelined for two months.
Now, he has a real chance to show he is here to stay.