Jules Koundé, between lights and shadows: great assist and costly mistakes

Jules Koundé experienced a bittersweet night in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals against Atlético Madrid. The Frenchman was directly involved in the equalizer achieved by FC Barcelona against the rojiblancos (4-4) by assisting Pedri González in the goal that initiated the comeback of the culés, but a couple of mistakes made in two of the goals scored by the mattress makers have left him marked in defense.

The match started very uphill for the Catalans and, especially, for the Parisian, who in the 5th minute made a poor pass in his own half that was intercepted by Rodrigo De Paul. The midfielder passed the ball to Julián Álvarez and he, taking advantage of the spaces given by a disorganized defense, assisted Antoine Griezmann to score the second goal of the night for the Madrid team.

Like the rest of his teammates, Koundé was not intimidated by the context and kept his head high, achieving redemption in the 20th minute. After a spectacular combination with Lamine Yamal on the right wing, the fullback sent a brutal low cross to the heart of the area for Pedri to finish with ease and score the first goal for Barça, starting the comeback.

However, misfortune struck the Frenchman in the final moments. Samuel Lino made a run on the wing, and just as he was about to advance the line, Jules slipped and got stuck, allowing all the rojiblancos players to be onside and giving the Brazilian a clear path to enter Szczesny's area and assist Alexander Sorloth, who scored the equalizer in the dying moments of the match.

Koundé, the best right-back in the world

Aside from the untimely mistakes made in defense, Koundé's assist only enhances his spectacular season at FC Barcelona. The defender became the fifth Frenchman with the most matches in the history of the Catalan club, donning the blue and garnet jersey on 127 occasions and surpassing Ludovic Giuly to close the 'top 5', being only 7 matches away from Samuel Umtiti in fourth place.

The Frenchman has fully exploded in the first team, being the player who has played the most minutes (3,185') and, along with Pau Cubarsí, the only one who has participated in all 39 matches of the Barça in all competitions. In addition, he has celebrated 3 goals and provided 8 assists, establishing himself as the best right-back in the world.