Comparing Barcelona’s record with and without Pedri in 2021-22
Despite only being 19 years old, Pedri has already established himself as one of Barcelona’s most important and influential players.
Pedri came through Las Palmas’ academy and spent a season in the Segunda Division before joining Barcelona in 2020 in a deal worth an initial €5million.
He quickly managed to usurp the likes of Miralem Pjanic and Philippe Coutinho, establishing himself as one of the first names on Ronald Koeman’s team sheet.
The midfielder finished his debut season at Barcelona with 52 appearances in all competitions before helping Spain reach the Euro 2020 semi-finals.
After his brilliant performances at club and international level, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Boy award at the end of 2021.
Despite struggling with a couple of injury problems this season, Pedri has continued to impress under Xavi and is now regarded as their best player following Lionel Messi’s departure.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Xavi told reporters earlier this month when asked whether Barcelona had become dependent on Pedri to win matches.
“Look, he’s an extraordinary player. Don’t skimp on the praise for him. He’s a player that excites me and one that can make a difference.
“He’s scored a great goal [against Levante], but I don’t think there is [a dependence on him]. Frenkie [de Jong] and Nico [Gonzalez] made the effort as well. That’s what we all have to do. You can’t always play beautiful football.”
But Pedri then suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in their Europa League quarter-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona have since lost two consecutive home games in La Liga.
We’ve taken a look at Barcelona’srecord with the midfielder in the starting XI and compared it to their record without him since the start of the season.
As the stats show, Barcelona average more points per game, have a higher win rate and have a lower loss rate when Pedri is named in their starting line-up.
While the Spanish giants do concede slightly more goals per game when he is in the team, they also average more goals at the right end.
With Pedri starting
Games: 19
Wins: 10
Draws: 5
Defeats: 4
Points per game: 1.84
Win rate: 52.6%
Loss rate: 21%
Goals: 39
Goals per game: 2.05
Goals against: 25
Goals against per game: 1.31
MAGIC from Pedri! 😱😱
The Sevilla defence left scrambling as the youngster bided his time before smashing Barca in front 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/OfTA56YxI4
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) April 3, 2022
Without Pedri starting
Games: 29
Wins: 13
Draws: 8
Defeats: 8
Points per game: 1.62
Win rate: 44.8%
Loss rate: 27.5%
Goals: 40
Goals per game: 1.37
Goals against: 32
Goals against per game: 1.1
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