Pep Guardiola’s paternal gesture with Colo Barco after Manchester City’s win over Brighton in the Premier League

What would he have said Pep Guardiola a Valentine Boat?. The images that emerged after the defeat of the Manchester City ante Brighton by Premier League allow us to assume it: the Catalan coach, knowledgeable like few others about this sport, knew that the Argentine youth player would be disappointed by his poor debut as a starter in England and He came to console him and push him to move forward..

And paternal gesture of the Spanish coach, as he had so many times with Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez, even with Sergio Agüero, other albicelestes that he coached in his career. Barco returned a smile as he walked, chewing anger, to the home locker room.

Of course, Colo did not have the dream debut as a starter at Brighton. Weeks ago, the coach Roberto De Zerbi He had declared that Barco still needed to be at the level of the Premier League. “We have to give him a lot of time to understand the new country, the new football and the different style of play. It’s hard to know if he’s ready to play or not. It is very hard for young players who come from different countries. “He has to work to improve his physical condition.”explained the DT.

But the muscle injury of Ecuadorian Pervis Estupiñán caused Barco – who until today had only played 1 minute in the Premier League and 10 in the FA Cup – to gain ground and start against none other than Manchester City. And Pep’s cast made the former Boca youth pay for his inexperience, mainly in two of the four goals scored by the team that was one win away from being the leader and being able to repeat the title.

Barco looked sad. He had waited for this possibility since he landed in Brighton, after his conflictive departure from Boca, where he executed the termination clause in exchange for 10 million euros.

“Sad about the defeat, it was not what we wanted. We tried to win the game, but City is a very great team, which won everything. It was painful, but on the one hand I feel happy for the debut, especially against this team and in our court”he remarked, in statements to ESPN.

He also recognized what his coach De Zerbi had revealed a couple of weeks ago. “It’s a totally different football, I adapted and now the coach saw that I was prepared and luckily I felt good on the field”he confided.

And he concluded by revealing who will keep the debut shirt in the Premier League: “I have a lot of admiration for Julián Álvarez, he is a world champion. We talked before the game about changing the shirt, so we are going to do it”.