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Why Hector Bellerin will be one of the key players to watch tonight

In much the same way that they were able to entice Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique home from the P...



Why Hector Bellerin will be on...
Soccer

Why Hector Bellerin will be one of the key players to watch tonight

In much the same way that they were able to entice Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique home from the Premier League, you can imagine Barcelona making moves to bring Hector Bellerin back to the Nou Camp at some point in the future.

For the right-back's rise has been meteoric and given that Daniel Alves is already 32, Barcelona-born Bellerin could well become a transfer target of the club which developed him.

But for now, the 20-year-old has his sights firmly set on Arsenal life with a contract taking him up to 2019 and what looks to be a guaranteed starting place that he has deservedly made his own.

Tonight will arguably be the most stringent defensive challenge of his career as he forms the right side of a back four which must try to do what most humans team can't do by stopping Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar from scoring or assisting.

More than likely, he will find Neymar on his side most often but based on his own attributes, Bellerin has the pace to deal with the Brazilian and that is vital given that the Spain under-21 international often sits nearest to the slow but methodical Per Mertesacker.

Arsenal's Per Mertesacker, left, and Hector Bellerin celebrate after the English Community Shield soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2015. Arsenal won the match 1-0. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Bellerin's pace is not exaggerated given that he beat Theo Walcott's 40 metre Arsenal sprint record last season, and for the most part, the player has not been found wanting defensively too often. Of course, his recovery pace helps with that but he will need a huge deal of positional discipline to deal with the opposition's barely peerless movement.

But given how dangerous Barca will be, we won't get to see as much of Bellerin in an attacking light tonight, which has been a good asset for Arsene Wenger.

His one assist and 14 chances created in 2015-16 don't really show how much help he gives in attack by overlapping outside the widest midfielder - particularly vital when Aaron Ramsey nominally occupied the right side - and forcing opposition defenders to create space.

That side of his game is unlikely to be as evident this season but he does have that pace to shuttle up and down and make sure he is back to deal with Neymar and co - although any forward runs will need to be covered by a more defensive player which could undo the much-needed structure Arsenal will need. 

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