
The conductor of the orchestra
Is Pedri the most important player in Flick's Barça?
The Canary Islander is experiencing a season of redemption in which injuries have stopped weighing him down and he has found his best sporting version
Barça football becomes a pleasure when Pedri is in charge. The Tegueste native is experiencing his season of sporting splendor, far from the injuries that have prevented him from having continuity in recent seasons. At the beginning of this season, he highlighted the physical preparation that Hansi Flick's staff put into the squad, admitting that those in charge "do them a lot of good." Likewise, a muscle study gave him the keys to his well-being.
In this way, the '8' culé is enjoying many minutes. His different roles, whether at the base of the 4-2-3-1, sometimes also as a midfielder, or as an interior in the 4-3-3, make him have a lot of weight in the game and, with all the gears of the team working, his talent shines. He is a regular for Hansi Flick, as he has played in all 31 games that FC Barcelona has had. However, in order to take care of him, the German coach rations his minutes, which is why he has been substituted in 19 of them.
He doesn't steal the spotlight, but he is key
The spotlight is being taken by the trio of attackers: Lamine, Lewandowski and Raphinha. To a certain extent, it is logical, since they have participated in more than 90% of the goals that the team has scored, either by scoring or with assists. Yamal is having his first great season, Robert is giving his best performance as a culé and the Brazilian is having the best moment of his career, with a world-class level. However, the balls would not reach the top if the work in the engine room was not so good.
Casadó is a pitbull. Aggressive and intense in pressing, he does not give up a ball, and he is intelligent with the ball at his feet. Gavi and Olmo, who are usually one of the starters, normally in the attacking midfield position, offer different characteristics, but both add a lot. It is a luxury to have players like this, as their differences offer variety when planning a match depending on the opponent. However, the constant is Pedri, a magician who makes football flow differently under his direction. If Barça gets stuck, the Canary Islander is the solution. Xavi insisted a lot on his quality and Flick is proving he was right.
Pedri's numbers, revealed
His numbers show the good moment the midfielder is in. He has 4 goals and 4 assists in 31 games. He is one assist away from equalling last season's numbers, with 4 fewer games and living further away from the opponent's area. As for goals, his best season was 22/23, in which he reached 7 in 35 matches. The fact is that, returning to the present, in the Champions League, his expected assists indicate that he should have almost 3 more, which indicates that his teammates have wasted clear chances.
He has an 88% passing accuracy rate and filters 1.5 key passes per game between LaLiga and the top European competition. In addition, between both championships, which represent 27 matches, he has created 10 key opportunities. But he not only creates football, he also destroys it: he recovers more than 5 balls per game, he is dribbled past just over once and wins 58.5% of the duels he plays. He is a complete midfielder. Taking into account Pedri's performance, the author has a question: is he the most important player in Flick's Barça?