Barcelona head off for the international break on the back of successive La Liga wins.
La Blaugrana remain in third place this weekend after Robert Lewandowski’s late double sealed a 2-1 victory at home to Alaves.
With a four point gap in behind league leaders Girona, and a place in the Champions League last 16 almost confirmed for 2024, the situation is looking positive for Xavi’s squad.
However, the key to maintaining their momentum is consistency across all competitions, and keeping key players fit and on form.
The return of Pedri, following an injury disrupted start to the campaign is a major plus for Xavi, with the 20-year-old starting a league game for the first time since August against Alaves.
Pedri completed 80 minutes, as part of his build up to a full return, and he insisted the team must keep on moving in the right direction, if they want to win trophies this season.
“Whenever you win, you are happy. It was a hard game, up against a difficult opponent”, as per reports from Marca.
“When you start losing, as happened to us several times this season, you have to row against the tide. We have to continue like this, adding wins to wins.
“In the first half, I wasn’t comfortable, I lost a lot of possession. I need to get up to the right rhythm and in the second half, I was tired.”
