Over the course of the last few seasons, FC Barcelona had become a club all too familiar with the act of depending on certain players for the success of the collective.
Previously, it had been Lionel Messi for a few seasons before his departure, and in more recent times, statistics show their dependence on a much younger star.
Hailing from the Canary Islands, 20-year-old Barcelona midfielder Pedri is a name most football fans are familiar with. Not simply because of his immense talent, but also as one of the faces of this generation’s FC Barcelona.
His contributions to this Barcelona team have made him one of the key components for any manager who relies upon him. Over the last two seasons in fact, Barcelona have not even managed to win half of the games they have played in the absence of the Golden Boy winner.
Overdependence on Pedri
Across the last two seasons in terms of numbers, Barcelona have played a total of 45 games without Pedri. Out of these 45 games, they have won only 20, while drawing 11 and losing a massive 14 times.
These numbers are further divided across the two seasons as being 15 games played without Pedri last season (2022/23) and 30 without him previously (2021/22).
Last season, Barcelona only managed 7 victories from the 15 games they played without Pedri. In the season before that, La Blaugrana managed only 13 wins out of the 30 games they played without Pedri in the 2021/22 season.
Barcelona no longer reliant on Pedri
However, as has been highlighted by Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, it appears that FC Barcelona are now finally moving away from this ‘Pedripendence’, as MD states it out to be.
Thus far this season, the previous overreliance on Pedri has not yet been called into action and the Catalan giants seem to be doing well without their 20-year-old Kopa Trophy winner.
Having missed four games due to the injury Pedri sustained during training, Barcelona have managed to come away as victors in each and every one of them. Four clashes in La Liga EA Sports and a match in the UEFA Champions League group stage were the games that Barcelona played since his injury.
Dominating recent games
The league clashes included games against Villarreal (4-3), Osasuna (2-1), and Real Betis (5-0). On the other hand, the UEFA Champions League clash included an absolute thrashing of Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp (5-0).
In particular, the most recent outings for FC Barcelona have shown the Catalan giants to display quite dominant performances even without Pedri. However, despite these great numbers and results for La Blaugrana, it does not mean that Pedri has become any less important for Xavi Hernandez moving forward.
Once he makes his return from injury, Pedri is expected to be one of the first names on the team sheet given his immense quality and how perfectly his style of play seems to fit how Xavi envisions his Barcelona to play.
