Barcelona youngster the only outfield player to have completed all 270 minutes of action this season | OneFootball

The growing prominence of Barcelona starlet Xavi Espart in Hansi Flick’s first-team setup has on Tuesday been summed up in one head-turning statistic.

Barca were of course back in action on Monday evening, welcoming Rayo Vallecano to the Spotify Camp Nou for a La Liga clash. When all was said and done, the Blaugrana emerged dominant 5-2 victors, to keep alive a flawless defence of their Spanish top-flight crown to date.

The aforementioned Xavi Espart was again in from the off for the fixture, from his new position on the left of Hansi Flick’s backline.

This meant that the 19-year-old has established himself as a starter for all three of Barca’s outings to this point in the campaign.

Not only that, but after Espart saw out the full 90 minutes, the young defender took hold of an altogether noteworthy benchmark in Catalunya’s capital. He is now the only outfield player to have been on the pitch for all 270 minutes of the Blaugrana’s season thus far.

Goalkeeper Joan García is the only other member of Flick’s ranks to have started and completed all three La Liga fixtures.

Conor Laird – GSFN