Meet Luis Enrique's six 'kids' who have been called up for Valencia
While for the fans the game between Barcelona and Valencia on Wednesday may be a little placid, for six Barça players it is an enormous occasion.
Luis Enrique completed his squad for the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg with five players from Barça B and one from the Juvenil A team.
Gumbau, Camara, Romera, Samper, Kaptoum and Aleña received the call up on Wednesday morning. The canteranos had gone to the Ciutat Esportiva to continue working under Gerard Lopez, but their plans were soon changed when it was confirmed they would travel to Valencia.
For several of them it was expected, given they had trained with the first team this week. For Aleña, it was slightly more surprising.
Not even the first phase of the Copa del Rey, for the trip to Villanovense, saw Luis Enrique name as many youngsters in his squad.
Of the six, four have already made their debut with the first team, all at the hands of Luis Enrique. For Dani Romera and Carles Aleña, Wednesday presents their first big opportunity.
It should be remembered that the RFEF’s rules allow a maximum of four non-first team players to be on the pitch at any time, so Luis Enrique will have to be careful to adhere to that legislation at Mestalla.
[VIDEO] El equipo ya ha salido hacia Valencia. Força Barça! pic.twitter.com/Xw9yOhCqnN #CopaFCB #ValenciaFCB
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) 10 de febrero de 2016
Here are the ‘kids’ Luis Enrique has called up:
GERARD GUMBAU
D.O.B: 18/12/1994 · Campllong · Girona (21)
Position: Midfield
First team debut: 15/01/2015 · Elche – FCB (0-4) · 20 years old · Copa del Rey
First team games: 8 (3 Liga, 2 Copa, 3 Champions)
SERGI SAMPER
D.O.B: 20/01/1995 · Barcelona (21)
Position: Midfield
First team debut: 17/09/2014 · FCB – APOEL (1-0) · 19 years old · Champions League
First team games: 9 (3 Champions, 5 Copa, 1 Club World Cup)
WILFRID KAPTOUM
D.O.B: 07/07/1996 · Douala · Cameroon (19)
Position: Midfield
First team debut: 28/10/2015 · Villanovense – FCB (0-0) · 19 years old · Copa del Rey
Games with first team: 3 (1 Champions, 2 Copa)
CARLES ALEÑÀ
D.O.B: 05/01/1998 · Mataró (18)
Position: Midfield
First team debut: -
Games with first team: -
JUAN CAMARA
D.O.B: 13/02/1994 · Jaén (21)
Position: Left wing
First team debut: 9/12/2015 · Bayer Leverkusen – FCB (1-1) · 21 · Champions League
Games with first team: 1
DANI ROMERA
D.O.B: 23/08/1995 - Almería (20)
Position: Forward
First team debut: -
Games with first team: -