“We can improve our attitude when defending set-pieces,” said Celta de Vigo manager Claudio Giráldez whilst addressing his entire squad in a training session, before turning and pointing his finger at Óscar Mingueza: “Your attitude whilst defending set-pieces is a f—— disgrace.”

By Zach Lowy

Celta’s star wingback could not believe his ears. “Mine?” he asked in astonishment. Giráldez replied, “And what’s a f—— disgrace is that [Luís] de la Fuente has called you up for the [Spanish] national team.” His teammates inundated him with applause and friendly slaps of encouragement – three years after making his Spain debut, Óscar Mingueza was back.

Mingueza joined Barcelona in 2007 and quickly ascended La Masia’s ranks, winning the 2017/18 UEFA Youth League and making his first-team debut in November 2020 under Ronald Koeman. Over the next six months, Mingueza scored 2 goals and 3 assists in 38 appearances for Barcelona, started in their 4-0 victory against Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey Final, and became a regular in De La Fuente’s squads for Spain’s U-21 and U-23s. When Sergio Busquets tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2021, the U-21s were called up instead of the senior team for an international friendly vs. Lithuania, and Mingueza was one of the many players who made their senior debut in a 4-0 victory. Two months later, Mingueza headed to Tokyo and won a silver medal in the Olympics. However, Xavi’s appointment as Barcelona manager would see Mingueza fall out of favor and eventually join Celta in August 2022 on a four-year contract – whilst he departed on a free transfer, Barcelona retained a buyback option and a 50% sell-on clause.

“I’ve always considered Mingueza a technically gifted player, but with the freedom he’s being given at Celta, he is stepping into positions where you don’t expect him to get to,” said Miguel Quintana, a LaLiga commentator for DAZN. “Whether playing as a centre back or a right-sided or left-sided wingback, he can appear in the final third without any problem and I think that element of surprise helps him a lot.”

Mingueza quickly emerged a starter in defence, only to be sidelined by a hamstring injury in February 2023 and miss three months. He fared much better in his second campaign in Balaídos – only six players registered more passes into the penalty area in the 2023/24 LaLiga season than Mingueza, who played all 38 matches. He’s already played under four managers at Celta, but it’s safe to say that he has taken his game to a new level under Giráldez, who replaced Rafa Benítez in March. Having scored two goals and three assists in his first 64 appearances for Celta, Mingueza has already registered two goals and five assists in nine this season. Only Lamine Yamal (6) has registered more assists, whilst only Vinícius Júnior (9), Yamal and Raphinha (10) and Robert Lewandowski (14) have more goal contributions.

After beating Alavés in their opener, Celta fell behind early on to Valencia before equalising in the 22nd minute. Mingueza patiently waited for Iago Aspas’ pass to drop before slicing in an sensational volley, promptly returning the favor after bursting forward in transition and slipping in a through ball to Aspas at the edge of the box, who cooly slotted past Giorgi Mamardashvili. He made it back-to-back matches with a goal and assist against Villarreal, swerving in a thunderous free kick before sending in a carefully measured cross into Carl Starfelt, who headed home from close range.

Mingueza’s six big chances created put him level with Luka Modrić and Álex Baena in Spain’s top-flight, and it should come as no surprise that he is the highest-rated defender in LaLiga at 7.67 (eighth-overall). One thing worth noting is that he’s providing top-quality service from both flanks – against Valencia, he wreaked havoc from the left, whereas against Osasuna, he was doing damage from the right, charging forward into the final third before putting it on a platter for Borja Iglesias, who failed to convert. Not to be denied, Mingueza froze up two opponents before nutmegging one and firing in an inch-perfect pass to Iglesias, who tapped it in from six yards. He nearly engineered the opener vs. Las Palmas with another teasing cross, only to be denied due to offsides – once again, Mingueza took matters into his own hands, telegraphing a ball into the path of Iglesias, who scored the match’s sole goal. And against Real Madrid last Saturday, he played a quick one-two to earn an extra inch of space before teeing up Williot Swedberg for the equaliser in a 2-1 defeat.

With Dani Carvajal sidelined with an ACL rupture and Jesús Navas retiring, both of Spain’s right backs from their Euro-winning squad are out of commission, and there’s reason to believe that Mingueza can take advantage and secure another call-up next month. An unused substitute in their last two matches, Mingueza will be looking to make his competitive debut for Spain in November’s UEFA Nations League matches vs. Denmark and Switzerland, but in order to do so, he’ll have to fend off competition from Pedro Porro.

Does Mingueza have what it takes to emerge as a key figure in Spain’s defence? Quintana has his doubts. “With Lamine Yamal playing on the right, I’m not sure Spain can give Mingueza the freedom that he needs – a player whose biggest vulnerabilities are on the defensive side. He’s a player who struggles to shift his body and defend 1v1s, who sometimes has a lapse in concentration, who isn’t forceful in defensive duels, and who attacks much better than he defends. If he does leave Celta in the summer, he needs to go to a team that gives him this liberty to move around and arrive in unexpected positions for a wingback.”

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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