The midfield is once again emerging as one of the most competitive areas in this FC Barcelona team, even though it has undergone several changes since the end of the last season.
One such change has been the arrival of Dani Olmo, who arrived at the Catalan club in the last summer transfer window, and who is one of the regular starters for Hansi Flick.
Furthermore, Marc Casado has also emerged as a fixed starter for the German tactician, especially after the serious injury suffered by Marc Bernal at the start of the season.
Thus, in the three midfield spots, there is only one midfielder who continues to be a starter from the last few seasons, i.e., Pedri.
In fact, Pedri and Casado have established themselves as key parts of Flick’s midfield and thus took particular advantage of the injuries that kept Frenkie de Jong and Gavi out of action in the initial part of the campaign.
But there is no doubt that these two players also deserve to be the starters by virtue of their performances. These performances are also supported by their numbers, and they stand out in one particular aspect.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, they are the two players under the age of 22 years who have made the highest number of passes in the final third in Europe.
Pedri has made 199 passes in the final third up to now this season and thus stands at the top of the list, while Casado stands second with his 168 passes.
With these numbers, the Barcelona duo stands ahead of other notable names in Europe like Cole Palmer (147), Ryan Gravenberch (134), and Aleksandar Pavlovic (130).
But what makes this achievement even more amazing is the fact that both Pedri and Casado both play deeper in the midfield, and not as attacking midfielders, where Gavi, Olmo, and Fermin are usually deployed.