Barcelona’s plan for Pedri revealed as midfielder set to return

Barcelona will finally have Pedri back in uniform this weekend after the midfielder completed a four-week rehabilitation for a hamstring strain, and the club have mapped out a cautious re-integration designed to have the Spain international peak in time for next month’s Copa del Rey showdown with Atlético Madrid.

The 21-year-old has not featured since sustaining the injury in early February, a period that has coincided with back-to-back defeats to Atlético and Girona and a slide in domestic momentum. Hansi Flick’s squad currently sit at a crossroads in La Liga and face a daunting 4-0 deficit from the first leg of their cup quarter-final in the Spanish capital.

Club officials told reporters that Pedri is pencilled in for a 15-minute cameo in Sunday’s home meeting with Levante, a cameo intended to test the midfielder’s match sharpness ahead of a potential start against Villarreal the following weekend. The gradual approach, sources say, is aimed squarely at ensuring Pedri is “100 percent ready” for the return leg against Atlético at Camp Nou, where Barça must overturn the four-goal margin to keep their cup hopes alive.

Flick, speaking after the heavy loss at the Metropolitano, refused to concede the tie. “We will come back. We need to start from the beginning [of games],” the coach said. “When you see Atlético players, they had more will, more hunger. And this is what I want from the first minute. We didn’t show that in the first half. We have the second leg. We will fight for that. If we are able to win each half 2-0, this is our goal. We need our fans in Camp Nou and we will see what happens.”

With the league race tightening and European places at stake, Pedri’s return offers both a psychological lift and a creative spark. The next fortnight will determine whether the Canarian’s carefully managed comeback can ignite a season-saving run for the Blaugrana.