Sergiño Dest earns first start of the year for Barcelona
The United States men’s national team full back played the entire 90 minutes in Barcelona’s 1-0 win against Alavés on matchday 22 of LaLiga.
Sergiño Dest has struggled to earn Xavi’s trust since the Barcelona legend took over the managerial role late last year. The United States international hadn’t played in LaLiga since 4 December when Barcelona lost 1-0 at home to Real Betis.
In that match, Dest was a starter and played the entire 90 minutes. He had a very poor performance and didn’t help the team defensively or offensively. Since then, Xavi lost trust in the the young defender and he was subsequently left on the bench for the next couple of matches.
First start in over a month
Dest got his first minutes of the year in Barcelona’s 3-2 defeat to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday in the Copa del Rey last 16, coming on as a substitute to play 24 minutes. The real reason why Xavi decided to give him some minutes is because Ansu Fati got injured and there were limited options on the bench.
In a short week and with Dani Alves playing 120 minutes as a right back, Xavi decided to give Dest another opportunity on matchday 22 of LaLiga on Sunday. This was his first start in over a month and he played the entire 90 minutes in Barcelona’s 1-0 win against Deportivo Alavés.
ADest has been dealing with an abductor injury and had covid-19 last month which prevented him from practice with the rest of the team. He has recovered just in time for the winter international break as the USMNT will play three World Cup qualifying matches.