Barcelona midfielder’s fitness once again raising concerns – report
Barcelona midfielder’s fitness once again raising concerns – report Barcelona have a lot of lessons to learn following their latest mishap against Atletico Madrid, with the Catalans falling to a 2-0 defeat . First and foremost, the high defensive line remains an issue, with Barça now making an unwanted record of most red cards won since the 2016/17 season in the competition. However, another problem area for Barcelona is the fitness of Pedri.
Concerns around Pedri’s fitness at Barcelona According to El Confidencial , there are growing concerns once again surrounding the fitness of Pedri in recent weeks. After playing through a majority of the club’s matches last season, it appears the midfielder is slowly going back to his old fitness struggles. Since returning from an injury earlier this month, the Spaniard’s fitness levels have looked a bit imperfect.
And this was evident in the recent defeat to Atletico Madrid. Is Pedri being overworked? (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) The Spanish international could only continue for 45 minutes against Diego Simeone’s men, which is hardly surprising as he was involved in 90 minutes of action in the league contest on the weekend.
Pedri also played the ninety minutes against Rayo Vallecano and 160 of the 180 minutes against Newcastle United across two legs. There is a feeling that Hansi Flick overworks the young midfielder, giving him more action than his body could handle, especially after picking up an injury earlier in the season. With the second leg just around the corner, it will be interesting to see how Flick manages the game time of Pedri, especially with Barcelona slated to play against Espanyol this coming weekend.
One would expect Pedri to continue in the starting eleven and perhaps even play more than 45 minutes, provided he is fit and able to do so.