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Barcelona: Sergi Palencia makes use of his loan spell

By Benjamin Barkworth

Bordeaux's Spanish defender Sergi Palencia (L), Bordeaux's French forward Nicolas De Preville (R) and Caen's French defender Yoel Armougom (C) vies for the ball during the French Ligue 1 football match between Bordeaux and Caen on November 11, 2018 at the Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France. (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images)
Bordeaux's Spanish defender Sergi Palencia (L), Bordeaux's French forward Nicolas De Preville (R) and Caen's French defender Yoel Armougom (C) vies for the ball during the French Ligue 1 football match between Bordeaux and Caen on November 11, 2018 at the Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France. (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images) /
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The young right-back has featured regularly for Bordeaux this season.

Sergi Palencia joined Bordeaux on a season-long loan in the summer due to the lack of a clear route into the first-team as well as how overqualified he is for Barcelona B. He had made over 100 appearances for the B team, so staying there any longer would have stifled his development due to there being little more to learn especially since they got relegated to the third division.

Ligue 1 is an ideal developing ground for young players because it is a top five league in Europe, but isn’t as results focused as leagues such as the Premier League. Bordeaux finished sixth last season, which meant they qualified for the Europa League qualification rounds, so they are one of the better teams.

They have struggled this season, though, with four wins from 13 matches and they are yet to play Paris Saint-Germain, although they did beat second-place Lille 1-0. Qualification into the Europa League was relatively simplistic with a 3-1 aggregate win over Ventspils, 5-2 win over Mariupol and a 2-0 win over Gent; Palencia was involved in the 2-0 second leg victory over the Belgian side. However, they are already practically knocked out of the competition with one point from four games.

Les Girondins utilise a 4-3-3 formation similar to Barcelona, but there is a significant contrast in style. They may average 50% possession in the league, per WhoScored, but they are a side focused on direct play with balls in behind as well as counter-attacks where possible. A sustained period of pressure in the opposition half often sees them focus on getting the ball to the flanks where they have tricky wingers capable of beating players and creating chances for themselves or others.

This means that the full-backs aren’t heavily involved in the final third and are often limited to providing width during the build-up phase or distracting defenders with overlapping runs which allows the winger on his flank to cut inside, so Palencia only has one assist to his name. However, he has featured regularly with 990 minutes in the league, which is the fourth highest in the team.

The stylistic difference is a worry, but this is still valuable experience for him nonetheless. His average of 42.8 passes per game is the third highest out of the players who regularly play while his pass success of 81.3% isn’t bad and an average of 0.8 key passes per game is impressive considering Bordeaux’s style, per WhoScored. The defence sees a lot of the ball as Bordeaux often want to invite the press and draw teams up the pitch in order to play long balls over the top and beat the offside trap.

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Barcelona have been shaky this season defensively with 18 goals conceded in the league, and Ernesto Valverde’s use of Sergi Roberto at right-back is starting to hurt the team. Therefore, Palencia could be a cheap option to provide competition for the role next season, and if he has an in-depth knowledge of positional play, like Roberto, but combined with defensive nous then he could be a great fit. However, for now he needs to focus on continuing his good form with Bordeaux.