Rafa Marquez does a quiet and brilliant job at Barca Atletico

The Mexican-led side is close to direct promotion to the second division after excellent performances and the ability to adapt to supply players in the first team.

BARCELONA — Barcelona Atletico already considers direct promotion to the second division a goal within reach. The Barça reserve team, led by Rafa Márquez, defeated Osasuna Promesa on Sunday (2-3) in Pamplona and thus recorded its fourth consecutive win, increasing the number of games without defeat to eleven (nine wins) and second place. , just one point behind Deportivo de La Coruña in their best streak of the season.

With eight days remaining in the championship, they have almost guaranteed a place in the promotion play-offs (they are nine points ahead of the sixth-placed team) and hope to overtake Deportivo, whom they face at Riazor on 12 May. I will have to see. An end date that is a decisive venture in the fate of the tournament at this point.

Since they lost 2–0 in the first round on their visit to the Arenteiro and are seventh in the table, accumulating five games without a win, Barça Atlético’s response has been monumental: they have scored 29 points from 33 in the dispute. Have just conceded defeats to Logroñés and two draws against Real Unión, to reach second place and in the company of Deportivo, who has had a similar streak since the start of the second half of the championship.

Márquez’s management at the head of his young and inexperienced dressing room is as admirable as it is brilliant, forced to change plans every week due to the needs of the first team, which, if from one day to the next, puts him at the mercy of the Quebecois. Without leaving, he is taking key players like Casado, Hector Forte or Marc Guieu.

However, the Mexican coach has not only adapted to the circumstances; What’s more, he knows how to get the most out of a group of footballers whose ambition and intensity have increased manifold in recent months, with the latest emergence of Guille Fernández, who on Sunday scored the most goals in the history of the reserves in Pamplona. Became a budding player at a young age. Team. (15 years and 287 days) Lamin surpassed the mark held by Yamal.

Márquez has maintained his reserved and calm profile, focusing on daily work and for now staying away from the renewal offer that the club extended to him a month ago for next season so that he could lead a subsidiary. Continue to do what you hope for: Moving up a grade is a reality today.