Pedri’s presence is such a blessing for Barça that his absences are a big problem. This statement is confirmed by the bad feelings of the Barça team since they were injured against Manchester United, but also by the numbers. In the last four games, in which the player from Tenerife has not participated, Barça has only been able to win one game and has been eliminated from the Europa League.
Pedri is pause, but also vertigo. It is precision and vision of the game. A footballer capable of combining like no other with his teammates, but also of breaking lines in driving. As if that were not enough, in recent games he had added the goal to his formidable repertoire, with three goals between the end of January and the beginning of February. In total, six in this League.
His injury has been a huge headache for Xavi, who has seen how his team’s performance has been clearly affected. Before his injury, Pedri had only missed three games, a priori the least important of the season. One in the Champions League against Viktoria Plzen and two in the Copa del Rey, against Inter City and Ceuta. Everything else had been played by the man from Tenerife.
In the game with Manchester United at the Camp Nou, he suffered an injury that will keep him away from the pitch for a few more weeks. Since then, Barça have won one game (Cádiz, 2-0), drawn another (Manchester United, 2-2) and lost two (Manchester United, 1-2 and Almería, 0-1). The balance is very worrying, because it has also led to the elimination of the Europa League.
In addition to the numbers, the bad feelings offered by the team in Almería are worrying. Xavi Hernández was very hard on his team at the end of the match. He said of them that he had played without passion and without the desire to win. And throughout the entire game he asked for more intensity from his midfield. Undoubtedly, Pedri’s injury has conditioned that way of playing that has allowed Barça to ride without too many setbacks in the League. Something that with his absence is in question.
