Pedro the solver. Rome-Lazio and the specific weight of the Spanish

You can write history without necessarily having to end up on the cover. A painful contradiction that has ended up encompassing all the essence of Pedro, the man capable of raising twenty-five trophies to the sky in teams that always belonged to someone else. Guardiola’s Barcelona first and Messi-Neymar-Suarez then, Hazard’s Chelsea, Xavi and Iniesta’s Spain. Nevertheless for ten years Pedro didn’t just play finals. Above all, he decided them. It was like this on the night of Monaco in 2009, in the Uefa Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk. And it went on until Baku, in 2019, in the Europa League win against Arsenal. Except that while her name could not jump the fence of the chronicle, that of her most illustrious companions ascended towards the blessed light of legend. Eternal nominee for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife winger ended up being imprisoned in the role of pure talent that could only expand when placed in a collective, he systemized that phrase by James Ellroy that he says “The class is not ostentatious”, however, softening it with an almost consoling tone. Appreciated by all, but nobody’s favorite, the Spaniard represented a shining illusion.

That diminutive, “Pedrito”, stuck to him until it was preserved from the passage of time, imprisoning him in perpetual youth, trivializing his talent. “We get so used to people that we continue to see them as we saw them the first time,” writes Georges Simenon. And for everyone Pedro has remained that boy who ran on the wing at the time of the third team of Barcelona, ​​when he was one step away from quitting, a pocket genius able to push on the accelerator but also to float between the lines, to dribble to focus and cross but also to look for the opponent’s goal. Characteristics that have gone through the different phases of his career intact. Even when he decided to say goodbye to everyone and leave Barcelona, ​​the club of his life. Luis Enrique wasn’t the type who loved making changes too much. And the offensive trident was already made up of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. So why settle for crumbs if he was still hungry? “The easiest thing would have been to stay – he confessed some time later – but I was not interested in being present in the photos with the trophy in hand. So I decided to change scenery”. Chelsea as a new home. But the boy who had been the symbol of Guardiola’s team could not become one in that of Pep’s great enemy, Mourinho. Even though the Portuguese had called him a couple of times to convince him. Even if those blues desperately needed his talent. Mou’s second reign in London will end after six months. That of the Spaniard will last another four years. With other trophies and other satisfactions. And with other goals capable of becoming collective joy, widespread orgasm.

The last chapter of his history takes him to Rome. First in the Giallorossi, with Paulo Fonseca on the bench. The high point of his parable is the goal in the derby of 15 May 2021, won 2-0 by Roma, with the performance of him having begun to screw in a dangerous dive just like that of the rest of the team. Then the announcement. Roma would restart from José Mourinho. Which meant that Roma would not have restarted from Pedro. The Spaniard can start at zero, he is downgraded to a character in search of an author.

The landing in Lazio is a choice that does not particularly please anyone. At least until September, when the Spaniard scores in the derby won 3-2 by the Biancocelesti. And he also rejoices. The transfer works. Because Sarri asks him to give speed to the right wing, to disappear to reappear at the right time, to run behind his opponents, to find the goal. In short, to simply be himself. Pedro is close to double figures, then this season he proves he can be important too after the game has started. He scores two goals, serves as many assists, creates plays out of thin air. Now the injury to Immobile and the disqualification of Milinkovic-Savic will force Sarri to design something new. Pedro will no longer be a supporting actor but a protagonist, he will have to start wide and converge towards the center, forcing his teammates to speak his own football language, transforming Immobile’s Lazio into his Lazio. At least for one game. Not a big problem for the man used to scoring heavy goals.