A first senior squad place for a Masia midfielder
Hansi Flick has added a teenager to the Barcelona squad for tonight’s Clásico. Orian Goren, born in March 2009, has been named in a first-team matchday group for the first time, and the 21:00 kickoff against Real Madrid is not a quiet one to start with.
The reason is Dani Olmo. The midfielder is out with a left adductor injury, and that opened a place for Goren, an Israel U21 international who has spent the season mostly with Barça B, where he has started five games and set up a goal. He has been training with the senior group since Tuesday’s 4-2 Champions League defeat in Paris.
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Why Barça trust him
Goren is not a complete unknown. He was noticed in the Youth League last season, including a win over PSG and a double against Olympiakos in the group phase, and Flick used him in August at the Joan Gamper Trophy, when he replaced Pedri for the last quarter of an hour against Al Ahly.
Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, quoted by RMC Sport, describes his main strength as his instinct and his ability to find space, and he tends to drop deep to help build play, much like Pedri, whose games he studies on video at the academy. The same coverage says his physical side still needs work before he can step up for good.
Nobody expects him to feature against Madrid. Being in the squad is the news, and it shows how far he has come under Juliano Belletti at Barça B.
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