Ansu Fati is a born goalscorer, proclaims Ernesto Valverde
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde was in awe of Ansu Fati who scored the winning goal for Barcelona against Inter and in the process also eliminating the Italian giants from the Champions League. Fati also became the youngest player to score in the UEFA Champions League at the age of 17 years.
After topping the group of death that included Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde is fancying the chances to win the UEFA Champions League this year. Barca eliminated Inter Milan from the competition after beating the Serie A leaders 2-1 at San Siro. Carles Perez scored on his debut in the competition to seize the lead before Romelu Lukaku equalised, but 17-year-old Ansu Fati struck the winner in the 87th minute, in the process becoming the tournament's youngest ever goalscorer.Â
“We feel obliged to win this competition. We want to win every single match and that's what we've achieved here. Carles has the nose for more goals and strikes the ball really nicely. Ansu is a born scorer and although he's had some niggling pain, we wanted him to have some minutes. That it's a Barca lad who's the youngest ever scorer in this competition delights us. We're thrilled because Inter are a really demanding rival. We played to win and my players, many of whom were making a debut of some kind, responded by showing competitive mettle,” said Valverde to the BBC.
Having already qualified for the knockout stages before coming to Milan, Barcelona rotated their squad and with players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique all left in Barcelona, while Sergio Busquets was benched. Meanwhile, Jean-Clair Todibo, Moussa Wague, Carles Perez and Carles Alena were given starts at San Siro with Ansu Fati coming off the bench in the 85th minute and scored the winner for the Blaugrana.
“I played the give and go with Luis and when I scored the stadium just went silent. I'm super-happy! It's a dream. Everything seems to be going at high speed. I just have to take every opportunity I'm given. But here, you look around and think: "what have I done?” said Fati.