How Barcelona midfield maestro orchestrated the 2-1 win against Newcastle United | OneFootball

Barcelona’s win over Newcastle United last night had many obvious protagonists who dictated the result and helped the Catalans to the win.

Marcus Rashford, unsurprisingly, is the biggest of them, having scored both the goals on the night and putting his team out of the hosts’ reach.

Others like Joan Garcia, Jules Kounde, and Pau Cubarsi all had phenomenal games as well on an individual level and played their respective parts in securing the crucial win on the night.

One player who has attracted the highest praise, not only from fans across the globe but also from rival players, is Pedri Gonzalez, and the hype could not be more deserving.

Magical through the night

Ahead of kickoff last night, Eddie Howe identified one Barcelona player to be the team’s most crucial player in the buildup phase and in possession. The key to beating Barcelona, as he saw it, lay in restricting that key pillar of the team, and it was none other than Pedri.

Right from the get-go at St James Park, the Canary Islander was quite clearly the player targeted by Newcastle’s high-energy press with a man exclusively dedicated to staying on him as a constant menace.

The opening half hour of the game thus saw Pedri constantly hunted down, especially by the likes of Joelinton was seemingly man-marking him, but even that immense pressure did not force him into mistakes.

Absolute masterclass. (Photo courtesy: FC Barcelona official website)

While he may not have been playing with his usual freedom in the opening phase of the game, he continued to be key in Barcelona’s buildup and barely misplaced any passes, and even managed to get his man-marker booked.

As the half progressed, Pedri began seeing more space, venturing forward with more purpose and distributing the ball with precise through-balls and passes between the lines.

Bruno Guimaraes soon began taking personal interest in marking the star midfielder, but he too seemingly failed as the player only grew deeper into the game and got into his element.

It is no coincidence that the Catalans’ best moment in the game arrived when Pedri fully took over control of the midfield in the second half. Alongside Frenkie de Jong, Pedri was at his imperious best and had the ball glued to his feet in possession.

Once he entered his complete element, the hosts began to realise how pointless it is pressing Pedri on the ball as he wriggled out of tight spaces and high-pressure with ease and always found the right progressive pass.

The highlight, and perhaps the moment where he peaked, however, came in extra-time when the hosts pulled one goal back and seemed set to torture Barcelona for seven straight minutes chasing the equaliser.

If they failed in their objective to do so, it was only because of the one Canary Islands-based midfielder in Hansi Flick’s side who simply would not let go of possession.

Pedri, quite astoundingly, knocked the ball around the park and ran in circles to see the clock run out, handing the hosts no chance to even get a sniff of goal.

The 22-year-old’s fitness and form, at this point, are perhaps the most important components driving Barcelona’s possession game, and Flick will hope he can keep his fitness levels as high as they have been over the past year. Pedri, after all, is irreplaceable.