Pedro the man in times of need

Pedro celebrates his goal against PSG. PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ
Pedro Rodríguez has a habit of scoring crucial goals for FCB, as he showed again on Wednesday against PSG

Commitment, capacity and goals. Pedro joined the first team in 2008/09, and since then has scored 66 goals for Barça. But the Canary Islander is particularly renowned for appearing just when it matters most. He’s scored some of the club’s most important goals in recent seasons.

Pedro’s latest feat was his UCL quarter final goal against PSG. Having gone a goal up through Pastore, the Parisians were on course to qualify, but Pedro stopped all that with a magnificent goal.

Magic moments

He’s being doing that kind of thing for years. In the 2009 European Supercup, Pedro Rodríguez scored the only goal of the game with just five minutes of extra time remaining. That August 28, 2009 was just the start of the Pedro legend.

He scored 23 goals that season, the most important of which came on December 19 when Barça were facing Estudiantes in the Clubs World Cup Final. With just one minute to go, the Argentinians were winning 1-0, but then Pedro slotted home a trademark strike to take the game into extra time, where Messi was on hand to deliver the winner.

He was a household name by 2010/11, and in May Barcelona faced old rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League semi finals. Having won 2-0 at the Bernabéu, Pedro found the target in a second leg that ended 1-1. Barça were off to Wembley. And in that final on May 28 against Manchester United, Pedro continued his top form by scoring the opening goal in what turned out to be a 3-1 win.

But Pedro has also made his mark on domestic competitions. In the last year’s Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, Pedro beat Iraizoz twice in the first 25 minutes to set Barça up perfectly for a 3-1 win and yet another major trophy.