The injury crisis at FC Barcelona has remained an exhausting run of affairs this season. Consistently, La Blaugrana saw their key players get sidelined due to unfortunate ailments. However, despite those injuries, Barcelona have tried again and again to find the right alternatives as well.
Yet, despite the positive impact of these alternatives as well, there are some players who remain irreplaceable. The name of Pedri automatically fits into that description, and the Spaniard’s short return against Valencia was enough to be telling as to why exactly he remains untouchable for Barcelona.
As brought forward by SPORT, the very first involvement that Pedri made in the match was game-changing. Just as he did against PSG by providing an assist to help Raphinha score his second at the Parc des Princes, Pedri made sure his first involvement this time around after being subbed on also impacted the proceedings of the game.
However, his impact was on the other end of the pitch this time. With Diego Lopez seemingly through on goal with only Marc-Andre Ter Stegen left between him and Valencia’s third goal, it was Pedri who tracked back across the halfway line all the way over to Barça’s box to execute a perfectly timed tackle.
Unlike Ronald Araujo, however, Pedri left no repercussions in that tackle. Neither was it a penalty or a foul, but instead a clean takeaway that the Spaniard executed with extreme levels of maturity and great timing. Even after the game, Xavi used this incident as an example to showcase Pedri’s current level of fitness:
“Pedri’s action is proof that he is physically fine. It was an extreme effort, running backwards just as he had entered. He saved the team, he’s back and this is the final proof of it.”
The young Golden Boy winner continues to be instrumental for Barcelona no matter the opponent. However, acknowledging that no more titles are at stake, Barcelona are keen to be careful with the way they deploy Pedri.
From now till the end of the season, the 21-year-old Barcelona star may have to stick to occasional cameos to ensure his recovery goes smoothly after a rather hectic campaign.
