At 19, Bayern's Alphonso Davies is already the ultimate full-back in world football

Next weekend, he could become the youngest defender to win the European Cup in the competition’s history

Wed, 19 Aug, 2020 - 22:00

Daniel Storey

There are more glaringly obvious contrasts between Bayern Munich and Barcelona than their treatment of a then-17-year-old Alphonso Davies, given the events of the last week. The chasmic six-goal margin between the two teams. The diametrically opposite approach to squad-building. The ability of Bayern to bring young players up to their level and Barcelona’s to drag them down to theirs. Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz may have witnessed Barcelona’s darkest night, but it has been years since the sun truly shone. This was not the death of their philosophical, structural arrogance - self-inflicted via a thousand cuts - but its funeral.

Still, Davies is a convenient test case. Minutes after Bayern’s remarkably accomplished teenager beat Barcelona players as if skipping carefree through a spring meadow and assisted his side’s fifth goal, the damnation began. Hristo Stoichkov had recommended Davies to Barcelona but was dismissed by president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Bartomeu’s argument in five words: “He is Canadian, no thanks.”