Who is Marc Guiu? Meet 17-year-old Barcelona star who scored goal on debut against Athletic Club
Barcelona seemed destined for a goalless draw against Athletic Club when Marc Guiu stepped up from the bench to score the winner on his debut for the Blaugrana. The La Liga giants secured a 1-0 win, thanks to a moment of pure class from the 17-year-old forward.
For Barcelona, their famous La Masia academy is a tested and trusted pipeline for the production of elite talents. The likes of Gavi, Alejandro Balde and more recently, Lamine Yamal are making their presence felt in the first team.
With the match in a stalemate at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona manager Xavi showed his faith in his young players. He brought on Lamine Yamal and Marc Guiu, with the latter replacing Fermin Lopez, another academy graduate.
Within 23 seconds, the teenager found himself running in behind to latch onto a ball from Joao Felix. He steadied himself and slid his effort under the onrushing Unai Simon to score less than 30 seconds into his professional debut.
Guiu's goal must have been a surprise, even for the prolific teenager who was on target in the UEFA Youth League against FC Porto just two weeks ago. Guiu has two goals in seven appearances in the UEFA Youth League.
The striker, who played with Yamal at the academy and Spain U-17 level, showed his quality at the first time of asking.
Marc Guiu is a big striker for his age, standing at 6'2" tall, and he uses his size to his advantage perfectly. At the U-17 Euros this summer, he scored four goals in five games for Spain - finishing as the joint top-scorer - as they reached the semifinals.
The Spanish youngster is a traditional number 9 in the mould of classic strikers of the past, an unusual profile in the Barcelona academy. He provides a wide range of options for his teams with his ability to come short, run in behind, or drift out wide.
Marc Guiu steps into Robert Lewandowski-sized shoes
Coming into the Athletic Club match, Barcelona had a problem in attack, given the absence of Robert Lewandowski. They started with Joao Felix in the false nine position, but the Portuguese forward lacked the clinical edge of a pure striker.
Xavi needed a different option from the bench, and he trusted Guiu to provide the spark. Sporting the number 38 shirt, the youngster showed brilliant timing to run in behind and finished like a veteran, showing no signs of nerves.
The defending champions are set to take on Real Madrid in their next league encounter on Saturday, October 28. Although Lewandowski is expected to return for El Clasico, Xavi will rest a bit more easily knowing he can count on the quality of Marc Guiu.