It was one of those games where you think the ref could go on forever and still not score.

FC Barcelona tried from all angles, but FC Sevilla and their players kept getting in the way of the ball. In the 72nd minute, midfielder Pedri made a move 18 meters from the goal: he put the ball on the left foot and faked a shot.

Two Sevilla players slipped into space.

Having the ball back on his right foot, Pedri faked another shot and only created the gap with it.

He ran another yard to the right and then shot flat and dry.

The acclaimed 1-0 was the final score, Barcelona climbed to second place in La Liga with their 16th win of the season.

Leaders Real Madrid have a twelve-point lead.

There was even a touch of Iniesta wafting through the Camp Nou on Sunday night.

At least many who had watched Pedri thought of the beginnings of young Manchego.

"If the ball burns players' feet and there are no goals, Barça now have new boots to look to, a new player to offer guidance, a new special boy to ask for a stroke of genius in which Hope that he will make the impossible come true" - the Catalan daily La Vanguardia raved about Pedri González López after the game, wrote about a new stone on which coach Xavi's new football project can be built and at the same time reassured the fans: "He's up 2026 under contract, the transfer fee is one billion euros.

Pedri was born on Tenerife 19 years ago.

The parents run the restaurant "Tasca Fernando" named after their father, which could be translated as "Fernando's pub".

Photos show the player before moving to Barcelona on a bar stool, next to the proud father, who puts his arm around his slender son with a broad chest.

The mother with a chef's hat and apron gives her boy a kiss.

On the menu, you can find local dishes from the Canary Islands, fish with chips, lentil stew with fried white bread and eggs, or meatballs with rice.

"Score more goals"

In July 2019, Pedri got his first professional contract at the age of 16 with UD Las Palmas on the neighboring island of Gran Canaria.

But just two months later, FC Barcelona signed the young talent and then let Pedri play another season in Las Palmas in the second division.

After all, he completed 36 games there, but did not get beyond four goals.

"His greatest quality is that he makes his team-mates better," his Las Palmas coach Pepe Mel said of him.

In addition, when his own team lost the ball, he worked an incredible amount on the lawn.

In the meantime, however, Pedri has taken advice from his coach into account: "He has to score more goals, he really has to get better at it."

Even today, Barça's great youth hope is not a goalscorer.

So far he has scored five times.

He plays in attacking midfield, in front of captain Busquets, who has his back free.

With this position on the field and his style of play, he is a little reminiscent of world champion Iniesta, who never scored many goals, but he did score decisive ones.

Just like Pedri against Seville.

Or like against Galatasaray in the round of 16 of the Europa League, when his team was already a goal behind and he then dropped two opponents in front of the penalty area and deliberately aimed at the goal.

The goals are very similar, Pedri said after the game against Sevilla.

"Whenever I see a leg, I try to dribble again until I can shoot." Barça coach Xavi Hernández said: "He is a superlative player.

There are very few players like that.

I always tell him to shoot more.

He scored an amazing goal because of the way he controls time and space.” Words like an accolade from the captain and director of Spain's 2010 World Cup team.

It's not just because of Pedri that FC Barcelona is expecting a perhaps even tougher chunk for Eintracht Frankfurt than in the draw on Thursday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL) in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Barça is currently the team in Europe in the best form, said Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui after the game last Sunday.

Barça haven't lost a game since January 20, winning ten times and drawing three times since then.

The second in the table scored 32 goals and conceded ten.

With Sevilla, Xavi's side have broken the best defense in the league, in a duel with Real Madrid, who have the second best defense in the league, she even scored four goals before the international break.

In the meantime, the fans at the Camp Nou even accept that Barça is still far behind leaders Real Madrid.

The race to catch up started a bit too late after a disastrous start to the season.

But they are now talking about a transitional season.

In the Europa League they see the opportunity to start a new successful era.