Oryan Goren, the 17-year-old Israeli midfielder rated as one of La Masia's brightest prospects, got his first taste of first-team football on Friday, coming off the bench as Barcelona beat CE Europa 4-1 in a closed-doors preseason friendly at the club's Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.
Hansi Flick used the low-key opener, played behind closed doors as Barcelona's World Cup contingent continued their break, to hand minutes to a raft of academy players. Goren was among a wave of substitutes introduced at the interval after Barcelona had gone into the break firmly in control.
Barcelona's goals came from Ibrahim Diarra, Héctor Fort, Ebrima Tunkara and Álex González, with Flavio André scoring the visitors' consolation. Sport5 reports that Goren, along with several other academy graduates, was given a run-out in the second half as Flick rotated heavily.
It is a small but symbolic step for a player Barcelona has been grooming since 2023, when he left Maccabi Petah Tikva's youth setup in Israel to join La Masia. Born in Savyon, Goren plays as an attacking midfielder and has already drawn comparisons to some of the academy's most gifted recent graduates for his vision and composure on the ball.
This season he has been a regular for Barcelona's youth sides while also training repeatedly with the senior squad, and Sport5 notes he even featured in a defeat to Maccabi Haifa during the club's earlier preparations. He also has experience against opponents two years his senior in the UEFA Youth League setup.
The Israeli press draws a direct parallel to Guy Asulin, who trained under Pep Guardiola's Barcelona squad in preseason back in 2009 before going on to score in Wembley Cup fixtures against Tottenham and Al Ahly — a reminder that a preseason cameo does not guarantee a path to regular first-team football, but it is often the first visible marker of a serious opportunity.
For now, Goren's involvement is confined to Barcelona's preseason program, and Friday's appearance came in a match with no competitive stakes. But being included in Flick's matchday plans at all, even in a behind-closed-doors friendly, points to how highly the coaching staff already rate him ahead of the 2026-27 season.
