Barcelona desperately need Pedri back, but with that comes a big risk

Barcelona’s season is teetering. A 4-0 humiliation at Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg was followed by a 2-1 league defeat at Girona that left the Catalans two points adrift of Real Madrid. Into this crisis steps the one player who can steady the ship: Pedri, who is expected to be on the bench for Sunday’s visit of 19th-placed Levante after a three-week hamstring lay-off.

The 22-year-old’s return cannot come soon enough. Hansi Flick identified midfield disorganisation as the root of Monday’s loss, telling reporters that Barça “defended the transitions very badly, we were too open” and that the midfield line “was not in the right position.” Pedri’s press-resistance and positional intelligence are viewed inside the club as the antidote to that chaos. A backroom source, speaking anonymously, described his influence as “unreal,” noting that he covers vast distances on both sides of the ball and allows the team to attack in the desired zones while simultaneously protecting the back line.

Yet every minute Pedri plays carries an asterisk. The midfielder’s breakout 2020-21 campaign — 73 games for club and country — was followed by three seasons in which hamstring and other muscular problems sidelined him for 84 matches. Although a revamped medical department helped him appear in 59 fixtures last term while missing only three through injury, he has already suffered two hamstring setbacks this season, the latest on 21 January at Slavia Prague.

Flick, historically cautious with muscle-injury comebacks, will limit Pedri to a brief second-half cameo against Levante if all medical markers are met. The plan is to incrementally raise his load so he peaks for the Champions League last-16 first leg on 10 or 11 March, with a potential start pencilled in for the Copa return leg against Atlético three days earlier.

In the meantime Marc Bernal, the 18-year-old La Masia graduate returning from an ACL tear of his own, is poised to start in midfield. Gavi, still easing back from a meniscus injury, trained this week but will be handled even more delicately. The club’s wider injury management will again be scrutinised after Eric Garcia, Flick’s most-used player this season, was withdrawn against Girona with hamstring tightness; scans showed only minor overload.

Barcelona have 13 matches in 45 days behind them and none next midweek, giving Flick a rare chance to balance rest, reintegration and results. Pedri’s comeback offers hope, but the margin for error — for both the player and the team’s ambitions — has never been thinner.