Wednesday's Champions League clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain should have immediately seen the top two players in the 2025 Ballon d'Or vote squaring off against one another. However, while Lamine Yamal has returned to full fitness just in time for the game at Montjuic, Ousmane Dembele will remain sidelined for at least another couple of weeks.
Unfortunately, the injury-enforced absences of Raphinha, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have robbed the fixture of further star quality – but Vitinha has been included in the PSG squad for the game in Catalonia after recovering from the knock that forced him off in Saturday's Ligue 1 win over Auxerre.
Consequently, the Portuguese is set to go up against Pedri, his one true rival for the title of the best midfielder in the world right now – and a player with whom he has quite a bit in common…
Getty Images Sport'I'm going to smash it'
Vitinha was fully deserving of his place on the podium at last week's Ballon d'Or ceremony. Truth be told, he would have made for a more worthy winner than Dembele, given his greater importance to PSG's play.
The Portuguese midfielder, though, still found his third-placed finish "unbelievable" – and one could understand why. After all, he's come an awful long way since failing to lock down a regular starting spot during his season-long loan at Wolves in 2020-21.
However, despite being regularly overlooked by Nuno Espirito Santo, Vitinha never lost faith in his ability.
"The coach was hard on him," former Wolves defender Fernando Marcal later told . "Despite doing amazing things in training, he couldn't convince him.
"Nuno wanted Vitinha to keep it simple, to release the ball more quickly. Vitinha tried to follow instructions but he didn’t want to lose his identity. So, I asked him how he thought the following season would go for him and he replied: 'I'm going back to Porto, I'm going to smash it there and the season after I'll be playing for one of the eight best teams in Europe.'
"I thought to myself, 'Wow, this guy can't get a game at Wolves and he thinks he's going to sign for Man City or a club like that? He's a bit crazy!' But no, he certainly wasn't."
Indeed, Vitinha was so good upon his return to Porto that he earned himself a 2022 move to PSG, where his career really took off.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMessi's blessing at Barcelona
The start of Pedri's top-flight career was slightly different to that of Vitinha, in that nobody ever had any doubts over his world-class potential.
From the moment he arrived at Barcelona from Las Palmas in 2020, Pedri's talent was obvious. Consequently, a teenager signed for just €5 million (one of the best buys in the Blaugrana's history) and only expected to feature sporadically during his debut season at Camp Nou – quickly became a first-team regular.
Even Lionel Messi was blown away by the teenager's talent, and there was a lovely moment during a 3-0 win at Real Valladolid when the No.10 made history by becoming the player with the most goals for a single club in football history. Rather than bask in his individual glory, Messi immediately pointed to Pedri, the provider of an outrageous backheeled assist.
Looking back on it now, it was a wonderfully symbolic moment, Barca's glorious past acknowledging the arrival of a future star.
However, shortly after Messi left, Pedri began to break down. Basically, Barcelona and Spain ran the 18-year-old into the ground over the course of the 2020-21 campaign – during which he played a ridiculous 73 games for club and country.
The net result was Pedri being plagued by a succession of muscular problems – until Hansi Flick took charge of Barca in the summer of 2024.
AFPThe Flick factor
Initially, there was a fear that Pedri's body might buckle under the pressure of playing for such a notoriously demanding coach renowned for his intensive pressing – but it actually proved the making of him.
"Physically, I notice that I am doing much better, able to do different things," Pedri told shortly after the start of the 2024-25 season. "We are working much harder at the club than before and I think the physical trainers who have come in are doing us a lot of good."
No player benefited more from the arrival of Flick and his fitness team than Pedri.
He missed just one game in La Liga last season (through illness) and also ended up playing (59) and starting (56) more matches in all competitions than any of his Barca team-mates.
Flick was also key in that regard. The German deployed Pedri in a midfield pivot, usually alongside the revitalised Frenkie de Jong, as he saw that the Spaniard was just as capable of winning the ball as he was distributing it.
The net result was Pedri being directly involved in 14 goals during Barca's domestic treble, while at the same time winning possession more times (389) than any other player across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues.
Basically, the Flick factor, coupled with a clean bill of health, has allowed Pedri to take his game to a whole other level.
"I feel liberated," Pedri admitted. "I think Flick has also conveyed that to me: to play without pressure, to do what I know how to do and I feel much more relaxed now."
AFP'Vitinha is vital for us'
Luis Enrique's appointment as PSG coach was just as pivotal a moment in Vitinha's development.
Before the Spaniard took over from Christoph Galtier, Vitinha had quite a lot of "chores" at the Parc des Princes, as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe didn't do a lot of defensive work.
Vitinha maintains to this day that it was a privilege to play in the same side as three legitimate superstars – but he also admits that he much prefers the new PSG project, which focuses on younger players with something to prove.
There is certainly no room for slackers in Luis Enrique's line-up, while Vitinha is also a big fan of the coach's brutal honesty.
"The best thing about him is that he's very direct," Vitinha told . "He will not lie to you. What he wants to say, he says. So you don't get the wrong impression with him.
"It's a very good thing for a player: you know what the coach thinks about you all the time. I like it a lot. Sometimes, coaches are not so direct, to protect themselves."
Unsurprisingly, Luis Enrique is just as enamoured with Vitinha, around whom he has built one of the most exciting and successful sides in Europe.
"Vitinha is unique," the former Barcelona boss says. "In possession, he is vital for us in his pivot role, he manages the ball perfectly, he does not lose it, and brings a lot to the team.
"He is strong physically, mentally, and he plays a difficult and complicated role in the PSG midfield. He embodies the perfect midfielder."
