Barcelona’s newest Catalan hero is firing them through the storm and back to the top
An El Clasico held on foreign soil and temporarily suspended due to the storm is enough of a combination to stir up a frenzy about the game being gone in just about anyone, but there was serious sunshine at the end of it.
A packed-out MetLife Stadium had to be patient as the weather did its very best to disrupt football’s two biggest institutions going at it in New Jersey.
Some football purists may seek catharsis from the weather delay, seeing it as a warning to protect the game’s biggest derbies from further commercialisation. While we take that point, we also appreciate the global appeal attached to a clash of two titans such as Real Madrid and Barcelona – even in a pre-season friendly.
Pre-season is a beautiful thing. From international fans fulfilling once-in-a-lifetime dreams in seeing their favourite teams, to the weird and wonderful fixtures that come with tours around the world and the general unseriousness of it all, there really is nothing quite like it in the calendar.
Away from the silliness, though, it’s a chance for rising ballers to stake their claim. Barcelona’s Pau Victor has done absolutely that this summer and then some against one of the club’s biggest and oldest foes.
Born and raised in a town in the north of Barcelona, it’s not actually been a straightforward or textbook fairytale for Victor so far, who is still largely an unknown quantity despite being 22.
It’s far from old in the grand scheme of things. At 22, most of us are still coming to terms with the sobering reality that our Bachelor’s degrees hold next to no weight and that even a return to retail or fast-food in a full-time capacity is hard to come by.
Speaking purely in football terms, though, if you’ve not made it by 22 these days, you’re as good as done and may as well be on the phone to UCAS, giving the sickening rise of teenage talents such as Lamine Yamal, Endrick and others.
Victor is quietly breaking the mould, though, proving that success isn’t linear and El Clasicos held in the United States are actually well worth it for the emergence of superstars we didn’t know we needed.
A striker by trade, Victor is a product of Girona’s youth setup, but after an impressive loan to Sabadell in the Spanish third tier where his creativity and prolific finishing proved crucial in keeping them in the division, a move that would’ve otherwise felt like a pipedream suddenly became reality.
No, he wouldn’t be playing La Liga football with Girona in 2023-24 – he’d be signing on loan for Barcelona B and later inking a permanent deal with Barcelona.
Hitting 20 goals and six assists from 36 games was enough to convince La Blaugrana that the hometown hero was a prospect who had slipped through the net. He’s signed on the dotted line, headed on tour as Hansi Flick looks to sculpt a new era at the club and immediately staked his claim.
A goal against Manchester City was the perfect start, but it was his most recent brace against bitter rivals Real in difficult conditions which has us off our seats, wondering how on earth this kid hasn’t been spotted before now.
Judging by his early showings, he’s making up for lost time and showing the main stage what they’ve missed.
Pau Victor vs Real Madrid
2 goals. pic.twitter.com/Ms2wbhTaEP
— 𝙈𝙓 6 🕊️ (@MagicalXavi) August 4, 2024
Come rain or shine, the kid’s got it.
Clearly a forward desperate to penetrate the goal whenever he can, his versatility is surprising, operating from wider areas against an admittedly changed Real side, but consistently causing damage with his chance creation in the form of stinging passes in behind.
It’s important not to get carried away a few games into his dream move to one of the biggest clubs in world football, but watching Victor stride around the pitch in blue and red, he appears to slot in seamlessly.
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His movement in possession is neat, demonstrating an ability to carry the ball and link up with teammates in tight areas. But what his performance also showed is a ruthless edge that the perfect, polished La Masia talent perhaps lacks.
How many pass-obsessed La Masia freaks are going to be hovering in the box like an addict, waiting to head a loose ball into the back of the net like he was for his first goal?
It appears his new boss is a big fan, too. Flick stated after the win over their rivals that the ‘door is open’ for the 22-year-old to be involved with their first team this season which – considering his only experience of senior football thus far has been in the third tier of Spanish football – highlights his very lofty potential.
Spanish sources report that he’s already risen up to second behind only Robert Lewandowski in the pecking order at the club, leapfrogging Vitor Roque.
Victor is proof that the path isn’t always linear, but his rapid and prolific start in one of the game’s heaviest shirts and in one of football’s most highly-anticipated fixtures shows that he’s got the minerals to match the skill to make it stick.
His childhood dream is just getting started.
By Mitch Wilks