Barca unearth most unlikely new diamond with record-breaking cult hero Marc Guiu

Ask 100 people in a room to picture a product of Barcelona's fabled La Masia academy, the chances are all will envisage the exact same thing.

Small, technically excellent, can pick a pass and keep the ball for fun. The new Xavi. The new Andres Iniesta. The new Gavi.

It is the prototype of what the Spanish champions have spent the past 20 years producing. Such players, honed in tiki-taka, are now found flung across all corners of the footballing globe, whether across Europe, in America, Saudi Arabia, Japan or Australia.

What they don’t do at La Masia is bring through big, hulking No.9s. Until now.

Marc Guiu is far from your typical Barcelona breakthrough star, but the 6ft 1in striker made himself a cult hero at the weekend, scoring just 23 seconds into his senior debut with the weekend winner against Athletic Bilbao.

Born less than an hour from Camp Nou, his first act after being thrust into senior action was to dash behind an opposing defence, timing his run perfectly and latching onto Joao Felix’s pass, taking one touch to settle himself and a second to coolly finish past Spain’s No.1, Unai Simon.

As far as introductions go, it could hardly have been any better. No one in the club’s history has scored their first goal quicker.

“There was no fear in his face,” said Barca boss Xavi. “I told him he would get one chance. He gets one chance and he took it. I felt he was ready. I am really happy for Marc, he is a good kid who works hard."

In the stands, Guiu’s delighted parents were left in tears. Barca’s missing marksman, Robert Lewandowski, couldn’t hide his delight. Among the on-field celebrations after the final whistle, Joao Cancelo joked: “You have to buy us a dinner now. You have to buy us a dinner in McDonald’s.”

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