Barcelona are a different team with and without Pedri in it, but they will take as much time as they can with his injury over the coming weeks.
Pedri suffered another muscle injury in his right leg in training, the same that he injured against Manchester United in February, and was ruled out for around five to six weeks initially.
That would in theory give him a chance of returning to the fold before the second international break, but MD say he will not be seen before then. His recovery is progressing as expected, with the young midfielder limited to gym work currently, but Barcelona want to take as few risks as possible.
🚨 JUST IN: Pedri's recovery is going very well, but he will not return until mid-October, after the second international break. Barça and the player himself don't want to take risks. @gbsans pic.twitter.com/3H7UJMWD1W
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 11, 2023
It means that the next time he appears for Barcelona is likely to be a home tie against Athletic Club, scheduled for the 22nd of October currently. Barcelona have seven games in the space of 22 days before then, as the current scheduling stands.
They start with home ties against Real Betis, Royal Antwerp and Celta Vigo, before a trip to Real Mallorca. Sevilla then visit Montjuic, before the Blaugrana travel to Porto in the Champions League and Granada.
While there are a number of tricky ties amongst that stretch, Xavi Hernandez will at least be grateful Pedri is not missing one or both of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Pedri has struggled to remain fit for most of 2023, but now at least Xavi has Ilkay Gundogan to help reduce the impact of his absence.
