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Riqui Puig was in the starting XI up again for Barcelona on Sunday at Alaves and put in the sort of performance that will make it very hard for Quique Setien to leave him out in the future.
The midfielder picked up two assists in the 5-0 win, becoming the youngest player to achieve that in almost 10 years.
2 - Against Alavés, Riqui Puig (20y 341y) became the youngest @FCBarcelona player to provide two assists in a single @LaLigaEN game since Thiago Alcántara against Villarreal in August 2011 (20y 140d). Hope. pic.twitter.com/m3g9SZFeNl
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 19, 2020
It was not the only eye-catching stat from the 20-year-old at Mendizorrotza.
| FUN FACT
— SofaScore (@SofaScoreINT) July 19, 2020
Riqui Puig created 3 big chances against Alavés - it was the first time a Barcelona player not named Messi created that many in a single match since April 29 2018, when Luis Suárez created 5 against Deportivo La Coruña.
Fantastic performance by the youngster! pic.twitter.com/cUmRFkkws2
Puig was also unlucky not to get his name on the scoresheet. The youngster smashed an absolute rocket against the crossbar in the opening minutes of the match.
Off the crossbar from @RiquiPuig! #AlavesBarça pic.twitter.com/oRONZKWqhN
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) July 19, 2020
It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time for Puig to finally make the breakthrough into the first team, and this was the sort of performance that showed exactly what he has to offer Barcelona.