Edgar Ié thrilled to make first team debut

Barça B centre back Edgar Ié made his official first team debut in tonight’s cup game with Huesca, coming on for Mathieu in the 63rd minute to team up alongside Bartra. In almost thirty minutes on the field at El Alcoraz, Ié made two particularly decisive interventions to help shut out the Aragonese attack.

Speaking after the game, he said “I’m really happy with my debut. I have the manager’s faith and now I just have to work ever harder … My team-mates told me to push more and not leave any gaps open.” He also commented that Gerard Piqué has always been one of his role models. “I like the way he gets the ball out” he said.

Pre-season experience

Luis Enrique has now given debuts to four B team players, after Munir, Sandro and Samper. But the Guinea-Bissau born defender already appeared in preseason games in Huelva, Nice, Geneva and Helsinki. Since then, he has appeared in nine of the 15 Barça B fixtures this season.

Ié joined Barça in 2008 from Sporting Lisbon. A series of injuries have prevented us from seeing the best of him, but now that he’s back to full fitness, he’s starting to show his full qualities, and the reward has been his first ever run-out for the first team.