The ‘curse of the ex’ was alive and well in San Sebastian.
On a night in which Barcelona continued their cruise towards the chequered flag, Real Madrid spun out and slammed into the barriers, a player who spent three years at the Santiago Bernebeu without ever managing to force his way into the first-team picture coming back to haunt his old employers.
Takefusa Kubo’s eighth goal of an outstanding debut season at Real Sociedad could hardly have been more straightforward either. Reacting quicker than anybody else to a misplaced Eder Militao back-pass, the Japan international tapped home gleefully as Champions League-chasing Sociedad hammered the final nail into Madrid’s title coffins.
Kubo was once compared to David Silva by former Villarreal coach Unai Emery, and he is now thriving alongside the Manchester City legend at the Txuri Udin; the budding student learning from Sociedad’s midfield master.
Celtic once missed out on Takefusa Kubo
Formerly a target for Celtic – the Hoops hoped to take Kubo on loan during the summer of 2020 – the one-time Barcelona youngster could soon be mentioned in the same breath as those other big-name stars the Glasgow missed out on if he continues to develop into a bonafide match-winning talent in one of Europe’s most high-profile leagues.
The Sergej Milinkovic-Savics. The Kaoru Mitomas.
Can’t stop scoring
That game-breaker against Real Madrid was his eighth goal of an increasingly excellent season. Add that to his seven assists from the right wing, and you’ve got a player who is now starting to justify the praise bestowed upon him by two of the finest attacking midfielders of the 21st century.
“We’re talking about a player with immense talent,” Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta once said, while Zinedine Zidane labelled Kubo a ‘very interesting player’.
“A great future ahead of him,” Iniesta adds. “He is one of the most gifted players in the world.”
Iniesta, back in 2019, may have raised a few eyebrows when he spoke in such glowing terms of a then-teenage Kubo. Four years on, however, the Spaniard’s comments are starting to look as visionary as his famous through-balls.
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