Sergino Dest looked to have moved one step closer to being at his best again for Barcelona, as the American defender impressed in Saturday’s top-four La Liga showdown.
Dest helped Barcelona knock off Sevilla 2-0 to move into second place in the league table. The victory also moved the Catalan club to two points back of leaders Atletico Madrid, who play on Sunday.
The 20-year-old got the nod at the right wingback position for Ronald Koeman’s side, and did well to help Barcelona extend its unbeaten run in league play to 15 matches.
Ousmane Dembele broke the deadlock in the 29th minute for Barcelona before Lionel Messi slammed the door shut on any late drama from Seville, by scoring the insurance goal in the 85th minute.
Dest completed 86% of his passes in the match, while also hitting the crossbar once and being a threat in the final third repeatedly. The U.S. Men’s National Team defender also drew two fouls, made two interceptions, and won three of his six individual duels in his 90-minute performance.
Dest showing off 🇺🇸🔥#SevillaFCBarça pic.twitter.com/dWCJ5HxVTK
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) February 27, 2021
After coming off the bench in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Elche, Dest looked confident ahead of this week’s Copa Del Rey semifinal second leg against Sevilla. Barcelona lost the first leg 2-0 back on February 10th as Dest missed the match through injury, but could rely on the young defender to start at the Camp Now this week.
Barcelona hosts Sevilla on Wednesday before traveling to Osasuna on March 6th in La Liga play.
I noticed that the formation today, on paper, looked as if Dest was further up as a right winger, with 3 in the back. Having not seen the game, i figured he was a wingback but his left counterpart was Pedri.
Did anyone see the game?
Just another good performance from the young defender at one of the biggest clubs in the world. Sorry he had a subpar game against mbappe, let’s not get all crazy.
Yeah well- there seems to be a certain % of folks always a bit nutty. Lotsa panic about Pulisic at Chelsea too when all hew needs is to get healthy. Mbappe can make just about anyone look silly….. as well Dest was on the left that match where he is definitely less effective. I like Cannon- he is quite solid but… this is why Robinson needs to settle in for the Nats on the left so we can deploy Dest where he is much more comfortable.
The panic with CP is he seems to be made of glass
Hey Master- I’d say that his health is a completely valid concern. The narrative I’m speaking of is those that seem to think that he has somehow been hard done by Lampard and now Tuchel and that he is the victim of bias and needs to flee Chelsea to get a fair chance. Truth is- if he is healthy and can be relied upon- his immense talent will win out and he’ll play.
beachbum- LOL I have never said Dest is a world beater defensively- just don’t think a bad game against Mbappe is a career ender. Nothing changed- Dest is what he is…. He is a very young player that excels going forward but as is common w/ young players, he is inconsistent- needs to keep working at his defending. That is what he was at Ajax, and what he was when he had the interest of multiple top clubs and went to Barca. In short- the truth as it often is is somewhere in the middle- my opinion of Dest hasn’t changed. He is a young, very talented, still developing player. It’s no surprise- the cost and opportunity when you play at a top club in a top league and your warts WILL be exposed.
LOL…Dest shows his abilities, and his deficiencies. If you still think he’s a good defensive left back, you need glasses. But he does do some cool things too, and for Barca. Good for him, but it doesn’t change reality about his game. And CP ate his lunch when they faced off too, not just Mbappe. And I could go on but won’t. Same thing on this board as always…some folks just can’t see the warts too, always rose colored everything. I like Dest