First Pedri González put Ivan Rakitic on the floor, next he put Diego Carlos on the floor and then, allowing time to speed up again, he put Yassine Bono on the floor and 76,112 people on their feet. And that’s just those who were in the ground chanting his name, bowing before him. Because if Sevilla fell for the quiet lad who comes to the Camp Nou with his kit in a carrier bag on Sunday night, so did everyone else. “Pedri, Pedri, Pedri,” went the cover of Sport, like a kid calling on the Candyman and soon there he was, pretty much everywhere. “Madness,” he said, smiling slightly once it was over.
Only it wasn’t over. Pedri’s goal had defeated Sevilla 1-0 but this was just beginning, both on Sunday and beyond. If Sport named him three times, Barcelona went for 40. He had acted as their “messiah”, El Mundo wrote. “Pedri provides the music,” El Periódico said. “Astonishing,” El País called him, “evocative of Messi and Ronaldinho.” El Mundo Deportivo declared him “wonderful, magisterial, unforgettable”. And while it’s an idea not to use up the superlatives, if only because he’s 19 and you get the feeling you’ll need them again, it was a bit good.
