Barcelona midfielder opts for iconic and significant jersey number with Spain U-21 team – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona fans always have an eye for the romantic, and a desire to intertwine nostalgia with the present. There are always comparisons to be found for La Masia starlets and former legends of the club and the Bernal – Busquets comparison is obvious.

Bernal has chosen a shirt number with real weight behind it during his latest spell with Spain Under-21s. The Barcelona midfielder, still only 18, will wear the No. 5 during this international break, a number that carries obvious meaning for anyone raised on the club’s recent history.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Bernal selected the iconic No. 5 before Spain travelled to Larnaca for Friday’s European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Cyprus. He is Barcelona’s only representative in David Gordo’s squad for this window, with another match against Kosovo set for March 31 in Alcala de Henares.

The symbolism is clear. Bernal has often been compared, at least stylistically, to Sergio Busquets, and No. 5 is the shirt Busquets made his own at Barca and with Spain after inheriting it from Carles Puyol in 2014. Pau Cubarsi already has that number at Barcelona, so Bernal is unlikely to wear it in Blaugrana.

Bernal himself has handled those comparisons with maturity. He said it is still too early to compare him with Busquets, while also admitting that the former Barca captain remains a reference point and a legend for him.

The No. 5 choice feels less like imitation and more like respect. For a young holding midfielder, it is a way of acknowledging the standard he grew up admiring, while also showing the kind of personality needed to embrace expectation rather than hide from it.

From whatever we’ve seen of Bernal, so far, both on and off the pitch, he seems to have a very calm head over his shoulders and it is a trait that will hold him in good stead for the foreseeable future.