In their LaLiga Santander game away at Girona on Saturday afternoon, Barcelona were really struggling and couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Having lost Ousmane Dembele to injury in the first half, Barcelona needed somebody to pop up with a goal and it was his substitute, Pedri, who did so.
Overall, it wasn’t a good performance, but at least Pedri found that one goal to earn Barcelona the three points, because they really couldn’t afford to drop any points in a game like this.
There was a major injury concern to come out of this game, with Dembele left clutching his left leg after starting a sprint in the first half.
Xavi‘s face said it all, as the Frenchman has been one of the best players in this period of the season.
Barcelona will have their fingers crossed that the injury is not serious.
When Gavi is on the pitch, he doesn’t stop and that was once again the case in this game.
Often, he ends up committing fouls, as he often did in this game.
In fact, he is the third-top player for fouls committed in Europe this season.
Even as he gets older, Jordi Alba still has pace and an attacking drive when he plays.
That was needed in this game, especially after Dembele went off, which is why the Catalan was substituted on for Marcos Alonso.
He did well to help set up Pedri‘s goal and showed how he can still be useful.
There was a tactical twist when Xavi brought on Alejandro Balde for Ansu Fati, as it meant Barcelona finished the game with two left-backs.
Then, when Franck Kessie came on for Raphinha, it meant Barcelona ended the match with no forwards on the pitch.
