Latest news with #VisselKobe
New York Times
19 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Barcelona have a new La Masia star shining on tour. Introducing… Pedro Fernandez
It wasn't supposed to be like this. Few expected Barcelona's pre-season to be another marked by a new La Masia talent announcing themselves on a bigger stage. Back in 2023, Fermin Lopez grabbed his moment. Last summer, Marc Bernal and Marc Casado shone brightest among a travelling squad that featured 16 Barca youth teamers. By contrast, this year, with practically all of the senior squad having been available since training resumed earlier in July, Hansi Flick's group for their tour of Japan and South Korea features just five. Advertisement But Pedro Fernandez — known as 'Dro', more on that later — is the latest to step up. Having already established himself as the sensation of Barca's first weeks of training back home, on Sunday, he produced a delightful 15-minute cameo in the club's opening game of a three-match trip, scoring the third goal in a 3-1 win over Vissel Kobe. Alongside 18-year-old left-back Jofre Torrents, Fernandez was one of just two youth academy players to feature in the game, and while Torrents' involvement only came because Gerard Martin wasn't fully fit (there might now be a spot up for grabs as a backup to Alejandro Balde in that position), Dro's time on the pitch was entirely down to Flick's personal choice. Fernandez, 17, spent most of last season with Barcelona's under-18 age group. He still has not made his debut with Barcelona Atletic — the club's reserve side that is essentially the first team of the youth academy. When he joined with the seniors for training for the first time this summer, some might have expected more established members of Barca Atletic, or the under-19 side that won last season's UEFA Youth League (as well as league and cup titles at domestic level), to have been promoted ahead of him. Either way, he has definitely taken his chance. Sources from the backroom staff — who, like all those cited here, preferred to speak anonymously as they did not have permission to comment — say Barca's German manager Flick has been hugely impressed by Fernandez in pre-season. Then came his brilliantly taken goal in Sunday's 3-1 friendly win in Kobe. 'I didn't even know how to celebrate, to be honest,' Fernandez said after the match. 'It was unbelievable. I came in a bit nervous, the first time with the best club in the world, but then the ball came to my feet on the edge of the box and I gave it a go. Hansi and my team-mates calmed me down before the game and I felt so comfortable. Advertisement 'Flick told me to do what I know to do with the ball, and then off the ball to push and press as hard as I can. Everyone has congratulated me for the goal, it's just unreal.' Barcelona signed Fernandez in the summer of 2022, having monitored him for years. He was playing with his boyhood club, Val Minor, one of the most renowned youth teams in the north-west of Spain. Based in Nigran, Galicia, where Fernandez was born to a mum from the Philippines and a Spanish dad, footballers such as the Alcantara brothers, Thiago and Rafinha, as well as former Leeds forward Rodrigo Moreno and Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic started out there, too. Val Minor and Nigran are still very much close to his heart. This summer, before joining the Barca seniors for pre-season, he used the Val Minor facilities to start working, under the supervision of a physical coach following instructions from Barcelona. 'Dro started playing with us when he was four or five years old and kept playing with us up until under-14s,' says Val Minor's sporting director, Javier Lago. 'At this age, the kids are playing futsal until they grow up and start playing football. 'One of the coaches we have in the club, Jose Antonio Covelo, is a Barca scout who played for Barcelona back in the 1980s. So it was thanks to him that Barcelona had him monitored for quite a long time. 'In terms of talent, especially in the last third of the pitch, he is off the charts. He's among the best I've ever seen. I've managed Thiago and Rafinha Alcantara, seen Rodrigo Moreno… well, Dro is around that level for sure.' The story behind Fernandez being called 'Dro' dates from this stage. When he started playing at Val Minor, one of his team-mates was called Pedro Villar. With two Pedros in the team, it was decided they should have nicknames in order to differentiate them: Pedro Fernandez became 'Dro', and Pedro Villar became 'Villi'. Advertisement Dro and Villi became, by some distance, the best players in their age group at Val Minor — to the point that Barcelona decided to sign them both in summer 2022. There, the nicknames became even more handy because in their team at La Masia was Pedro Rodriguez. So, for the sake of better communication, Dro kept being Dro. 'Dro had a lot of suitors back in the day,' Lago adds. 'Before leaving to Barca, he had gone to train with Celta Vigo in their youth ranks. He had plenty of offers, but in the end, both decided going to La Masia was the best thing, Dro and Villi. We try to go to Barcelona every year and check on them both. It's something we like to do as a club. We are all good friends here.' At Barca, Fernandez has played as an attacking midfielder, both as a No 8 and No 10, as well as a left-winger. His technical finesse, powerful striking of the ball and ability to play in tight spaces between the lines have been a difference-maker from the first day he joined. Last season, he scored two goals in the 107 minutes he played across seven games with Barca's under-19 in the UEFA Youth League. La Masia's coaches opted not to rush him into men's football, but his talent was never in doubt. Sources at Barca say his promotion to the senior setup for this pre-season is all part of a well-established plan to let him develop physically, adding that keeping him playing at age-group level means he benefits from the experience and responsibility that comes with a major role in the team. Having now had his first taste of life with the senior group, many fans are getting excited. Could he become the next La Masia star to break through? He seems to be up for the challenge. 'The first-team dressing room is brilliant and they have helped me a lot,' Fernandez said on Sunday. 'The first day I joined them for training, I didn't even dare to go and have breakfast with them. I did not know if I could. I stayed in the dressing room and I didn't know if I was allowed to check my phone either in there. 'I think of myself as a technical player. I like to dribble past players and have fun on the pitch. I try to do what I know, and that's it. Now I have to be patient, go step by step because this is just getting started.'
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Football: Andres Iniesta to miss Legends Match in Kobe
OSAKA (Kyodo) -- Vissel Kobe said Tuesday former Spain star midfielder Andres Iniesta will miss this weekend's charity match in Kobe, western Japan, for family reasons. Iniesta spent five years with the J-League club through the summer of 2023. The Legends Match commemorating the 30th anniversary of Vissel's founding is scheduled for Saturday at Noevir Stadium Kobe.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stats – Breaking down Barcelona debutant's performance against Vissel Kobe
Barcelona's summer signing, Roony Bardghji, announced himself in style during his debut against Vissel Kobe, scoring a well-taken goal in a 3-1 victory. The 19-year-old winger, brought in with plenty of expectation, played just 45 minutes but was one of the standout performers in what was a convincing display by the Catalans. Bardghji had 30 touches during his time on the pitch and completed 16 out of 19 passes, recording an impressive 84% accuracy. He managed three shots on goal, created one clear chance, and completed both of his dribble attempts, making him the most successful dribbler of the match. He also played two passes into the final third, made one clearance, recovered the ball once, and won two of his three ground duels. Influential against Vissel Kobe From the moment he stepped onto the field, the youngster looked confident and involved. Roony Bardghji made quite an impact. (Photo by) He had two early chances to get on the scoresheet, first with a powerful strike from outside the area that was blocked by a defender, and then with a close-range attempt following a smart pass from Marcus Rashford, but the finish narrowly missed. Still, Bardghji showed hunger and maturity by not letting the missed opportunities affect his rhythm. His goal, when it finally came, was the result of an intelligent and composed move. Rashford played a perfectly weighted ball behind the defence for Robert Lewandowski, who used his experience to square the ball to Bardghji at the edge of the box. With remarkable composure for someone his age, the Swedish winger calmly slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner. Beyond the goal, Bardghji's energy, vision, and confidence on the ball gave Barcelona fans a glimpse of what he could offer this season. For a 19-year-old making his first appearance, it was a performance full of promise, and if this is just the beginning, Bardghji may prove to be one of the club's smartest acquisitions in recent years.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
One Barcelona star misses first training session in Asia
A member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona was the sole absentee from the club's latest training session on Saturday. That's according to , who point towards Marc Bernal as the player in question. Hansi Flick's Barcelona squad are of course fresh off touching down in Japan, for the first leg of the club's pre-season tour of Asia. Ahead of a friendly meeting with Vissel Kobe on Sunday, the Blaugrana's stars were put through their paces in a training session earlier today. And of the 30 players called up by Hansi Flick and his staff, all but one played an active part in group activities. As per a report from Sport, youngster Marc Bernal was the sole Barca player to miss out, amid ongoing efforts on the part of the 18-year-old to recover full fitness following a long-term spell on the sidelines with an ACL injury. Conor Laird – GSFN
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Rashford debuts for Barcelona in 3-1 Japan win after match reinstated
KOBE, July 28 — Marcus Rashford made his first appearance for Barcelona in a 3-1 pre-season win over J. League side Vissel Kobe in Japan on Sunday, coming on as a substitute. The English forward joined the Spanish champions on loan from boyhood club Manchester United this week and was thrust into action against Kobe in the second half. Barcelona had initially cancelled the match on Wednesday, citing unspecified 'serious contractual breaches on behalf of the promoter'. But the friendly went ahead and Eric Garcia opened the scoring in the first half for the visitors before Taisei Miyashiro equalised for the J. League team that retired Barca star Andres Iniesta once played for. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick changed his line-up at half-time and new signing Roony Bardghji restored their lead in the 77th minute. Pedro Fernandez added a third in the 87th minute. Barcelona are paying around 75 per cent of Rashford's £325,000 (RM1.8 million)-a-week wage while he is at the club, with the player foregoing the rest, according to Spanish reports. The 27-year-old England international was out of favour under United coach Ruben Amorim and spent the final months of the 2024/25 season on loan at Aston Villa. — AFP
