Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez praised the fearless Marc Guiu after the 17-year-old came off the bench to score the only goal of the game in his debut against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Guiu was introduced with just over 10 minutes left at the Olympic Stadium, sliding home the winner 33 seconds later after being fed by João Félix to give Barca a narrow 1-0 victory.
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“Marc is a kid from the academy and he made the difference,” Xavi said in a news conference. “I am happy for him and with the three points, which are really important.
“I thought of him in that moment because he is a goal scorer, he has a spark and I like him personally. I don’t have any problem looking at what we have in-house. The complete opposite. I want to give them the confidence that I was given at 17, 18 years old.”
Guiu is the latest youngster to emerge from Barcelona’s academy and make an impact on the first team.
Lamine Yamal (16) and Fermín Lopez (20) have also broken through this season, scoring key goals in comebacks against Mallorca and Granada this season.
