Last weekend, Pedri made his return to the Barcelona squad, having been out since August due to injury. Coming off the bench for the last 35 minutes, he inspired Xavi Hernandez’s side to a late victory over Real Sociedad in Donostia-San Sebastian, although he could not do so again against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.
On that occasion, he would also come off the bench during the second half, and his sensations during playing have been good, to the extent that Barcelona feel he is now ready to start. As per MD, he is expected to do so against Alaves at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Sunday.
With Frenkie de Jong still sidelined with an ankle injury, and Gavi serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation, Pedri’s return to the line-up is very much needed. He has not been included in the latest Spain squad, so Barcelona won’t have any concerns of another injury due to accumulation of too many minutes.
In an ideal scenario, Pedri is able to be substituted after 60 minutes or so against Alaves with Barcelona in a comfortable position, as the club is keen to take his recovery slow. We’ll see if this transpires on Sunday.
