Barcelona take on Levante on Sunday night and will do so without one of their stalwarts: 19-year-old Pedri.
At least from the start, Pedri Gonzalez will be on the bench. Last season Pedri’s fatigue level became a running joke after the Canary Islander racked up over 70 games in his first season in the top flight. Yet that joke became a nightmare as Pedri ended up missing most of the first half of the season for Barcelona with a hamstring issue.
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Levante begin with what looks like a 5-3-2, Radoja, Pepelu and Campaña anchoring the midfield.
Big news for Barcelona is that Pedro gets a rest. Nico replaces him as Dani Alves, Ousmane Dembélé and Frenkie de Jong all return. pic.twitter.com/KcPQNrbaJ8
— Football España (@footballespana_) April 10, 2022
Returning on the 12th of January against Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercup, fortunately the superstar has managed to remain fit since. Despite the warning signs of this season, this will be just the second match he starts on the bench since returning against Real Madrid.
Across those 16 matches, he has been brought off on seven occasions and came on in the 60th minute against Valencia in the one match he was a substitute.
Against Levante he has been replaced by Nico Gonzalez, one of four rotations Xavi Hernandez has made for the match.
