Gattuso hails new Barca talent as ‘spectacular’

AC Milan ran out 1-0 winners against FC Barcelona in the International Champions Cup game on Sunday thanks to Andre Silva’s dramatic late goal and while the game was not a serious fixture, Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso was excited by one 18-year old Barca player Riqui Puig who mesmerised the Milan midfield.

The kid was not big. In fact, he was frail and small-statured like many players that come through the ranks of Barca’s famed La Masia. Gattuso was certain that what he saw was spectacular.

The youngster showed great sense of space and awareness, a trait that is trademark of La Masia graduates and in the second half, he showed great vision to create chances for his teammates.

"Riqui is spectacular," Gattuso was quoted as saying at his postmatch news conference by ESPN. "Even though they [Barca] have players that look like kids, the way they handle the ball amazes me. It's the beauty of football. It's like poetry.

Gattuso said he admired the concepts that are used at Barca and admitted that he was jealous of the model that the club uses.

"I heard about him a while ago, and about some of the other kids at the club. It's the kind of thing you can't really copy and paste. It's something that takes years to do. It's how they feel the game.

"So it's a beautiful thing, but a very tough thing for others to copy. They don't play with a tactical model, it's more of a common idea. Needless to say, I am very jealous of the Barca school."

Puig impressed a former Milan player such as Daniele Massaro, who scored two goals for Milan when they beat Barca in the 1994 European Cup final. The former player asked for Puig’s shirt after the game and compared him to Andres Iniesta.

"He told me he liked how I'd played and asked if he could have my shirt. As for [the Iniesta comparison], at 18, that's a long way away, but matching what he's done is impossible,” Puig replied when asked what he and Massaro talked about.