Barcelona teenager Alejandro Balde leading the way amongst European peers

Barcelona have had plenty to celebrate following their El Clasico victory over Real Madrid, and all of the statistics coming out of the match are in their favour. Perhaps there is one individual stat that stands out more than others though.

Alejandro Balde has become a fixture at left-back for Barcelona this season, and his presence is no longer news, having beaten out competition from Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso to make the spot his.

Solid in defence and providing width in attack, Balde is now a crucial part of Barcelona’s ecosystem these days, with Xavi Hernandez often playing without a left winger.

Part of the reason for that is not only that Balde occupies that position going forward, but he is also putting up some of the numbers to go with it too.

According to Squawka, no other teenager has provided as many assists as Alejandro Balde in the top five European leagues, currently counting five. His pass for Franck Kessie’s winner has for many ended the title race. That number rises to six if his winning of the penalty against Manchester United in the Europa League is included.

It also places him joint-third in the overall rankings for La Liga, with only Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad and Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid ahead of him.

As per FBref, compared to other full-backs in the big five leagues, Balde also ranks in the top 10% for completed passes, pass accuracy, take-ons, successful take-ons, carries and distance carried. It certainly looks as if Barcelona have their left-back for the best part of the next decade.