García Pimienta’s Barcelona B side were down in the relegation positions a few weeks ago, but a lot can change in a few weeks. At the moment, Barça B has worked its way back up to third in the Segunda División B Group E table. The 1-0 win over Cornellá was the first victory of the season on the road and a pivotal three points in the table.
One of the biggest reasons for the change in fortunes was the return of Álex Collado. The 21-year-old Collado would probably have joined Monchu, who is currently on loan at Girona, in an exodus from the club last summer, but he was on the sideline with a long-term injury and it wouldn’t make sense to move him during his rehab. Under the slim chance that he hadn’t gotten hurt and wasn’t moved, there is a good possibility it would be his name around the first team instead of Konrad de la Fuente.
Many will argue that Collado would do better with the first team than Trincão, and that may be true shortly, but the Spanish attacker is still regaining his match fitness. García Pimienta has benefited from having his captain around, as he has injected life into an attack that looked even more lifeless than the first team’s. In his latest act of third division heroics, Collado’s free kick goal proved to be the difference against Cornellá.
As I warned at the start of the season, this is one of the youngest Barça B sides in recent memory. It is also one of the most promising Barcelona B sides in recent memory; full of academy products with great levels of potential. It’s no disrespect to the outside acquisitions, but most of the success this season has come off the feet of players that have been around the Camp Nou for awhile.
Expected stars Oriol Busquets and Hiroki Abe, two of the more seasoned players in the squad, have been on the shelf for most of the campaign. The two new arrivals via loan have also failed to make an impact with centre-forward Joaquín Zeballos failing to get on the scoresheet in seven matches and almost 400 minutes and right-back Andrés Solano being lost for the year to injury. The expensive new arrival Gustavo Maia has showed flashes, but little end product in his first year in Europe.
Rey Manaj and Matheus Pereira, who were both brought in last season to help with promotion, have had mixed performances but do lead the team in goals (2 – Manaj) and assists (2 – Pereira). The showing against Cornellá was Manaj’s finest performance of the season so far.
That has left the squad’s most consistent players to be those who were in the squad last season or the promotions for Juvenil A. Jandro Orellana has held things together as the defensive midfielder. The usual combination of Nico González and Ilaix Moriba serve as the interiors in front of him.
Mika Mármol has played either left-back or centre-back, wherever he’s been needed, and Álvaro Sanz has converted himself from a Juvenil A pivot to a Barcelona B right-back with some success. Gerard ‘Peque’ Fernández has been the back-up centre-forward and has one goal. The same goes for Nils Mortimer, scoring one goal and serving as the back-up winger on either side. Lucas de Vega, meanwhile, returned from his loan last season and has been the fourth member of the midfield. Arnau Comas returned from his loan at Olot to be Barcelona B’s best defender and arguably best player this season. Last but not least, Santi Ramos Mingo finally got his eligibility and prior to a hamstring injury that will keep him out until January was serving as Comas’ partner in front of goal.
Konrad has one goal in five appearances, but has not always been available due to his first team call-ups. The 19-year-old winger has looked impressive in the third division and has earned his look by Ronald Koeman.
As if Barcelona B wasn’t young enough, García Pimienta has called up five Juvenil A players (José Marsá, Ilais Akhomach, Ángel Alarcón, Alejandro Balde, Pablo ‘Gavi’ Paez) to the bench, with four featuring this season so far. After a tough start, things are looking very promising down in the third division for Barcelona B.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
