The draw against Valencia is not a positive in any way for FC Barcelona at the moment. La Blaugrana are beginning to struggle and a lot of points have been dropped in the past week.
First came a loss against Girona in La Liga, followed by another against Royal Antwerp in the Champions League, albeit that was a rather inconsequential one.
Now, the latest suffering for Barcelona arrives in the form of a 1-1 draw against Valencia. The Mestalla was not kind to the Catalan club, and they only came back with a singular point to their name. However, if there was one positive from the game, it was the performances of a specific few players.
One such player, as highlighted by SPORT, was 20-year-old Pedri Gonzalez. The former Golden Boy winner was the heart and soul of the team in most attacks that they created. His vertical passes were sharp enough to find his teammates, and his redistribution was also nearly flawless.
However, much of this was possible, as per SPORT, due to the presence of Frenkie De Jong. The Dutchman, when available, allows every player around him to play better. This was seen with Oriol Romeu’s improved performances alongside De Jong, and now with both Pedri and Gundogan as well.
This improvement allows Barcelona to create a tremendous amount of strong scoring chances. However, their lack of efficiency and clinical finishers in front of goal continues to haunt them. Even Pedri himself talked about this following the game, also exhibiting the signs of a player mature beyond his years:
“We’ve done many things well to win, but we lack goals. The game has improved compared to the match against Girona, where we didn’t perform well.”
However, Pedri also continues to showcase his support for Xavi Hernandez. The Barcelona manager has been critiqued a lot recently, but his players continue to have his back:
“We’re with the coach. These aren’t good times, and Xavi is the first one feeling down, but we all need to stick together.”
Barcelona do not have any more room for error left. La Liga is slipping away, and while the rest of the competitions stay alive, the Spanish league is always a priority. Some positive signs were seen in the Valencia game despite the result, but signs are simply not enough.
