Ansu Fati continued to make waves in Barcelona’s win against Valencia, but Clement Lenglet does not want people getting carried away.
Clement Lenglet has called for patience around Ansu Fati after the teenager’s excellent display in Barcelona’s 5-2 win over Valencia.
The 16-year-old marked his first Barca start with a goal and an assist inside seven minutes at Camp Nou on Saturday, adding to his maiden strike against Osasuna before the international break.
It made Fati the youngest player to score and assist in a single Liga game in the 21st century.
He was replaced by Luis Suarez in the 60th minute and the Uruguay international scored twice, with Frenkie de Jong and Gerard Pique also on target for Ernesto Valverde’s side.
Asked about Fati after the match, Barca defender Lenglet praised the teenager but urged people not to get too carried away.
“He is 16 years old and we have to be calm with him,” Lenglet told Movistar.
“It’s true that he has taken advantage of his minutes and is a good boy who deserves it. I am very happy for him, but we have to give him time because he is 16 years old and things can change quickly. I hope they don’t but we have to take care of him.
“[I would advise him to] listen to people and work hard because playing for Barca is very difficult.”
While scoring five goals themselves, Barcelona‘s defensive issues continued on Saturday as Valencia struck twice through Kevin Gameiro and Maxi Gomez.
Though once again failing to claim a clean sheet, Lenglet believes his side largely performed well.
“It was a good victory against a difficult opponent who plays good football. They play different football to us but we did things very well,” he said.
“We prefer not to concede goals, but we did things well until the end. On the whole we played a good game and although we conceded the response was important.”
After losing their La Liga opener, the Catalans have now moved up to fourth, just two points behind early leaders Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona next face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday as they kick off their Champions League campaign in Germany with Ernesto Valverde’s side drawn in a group also containing Inter and Slavia Prague.
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