The one silver lining for Barcelona in the loss to Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

Heartbreaks and struggles have been a constant for FC Barcelona so far this season. The Catalan giants, despite their strong start, have seen their dominance and form suffer in recent matches. As a result of that, Barcelona have now completely blown their lead at the top of the La Liga table.

Their most recent heartbreak came in the form of a defeat to Atletico Madrid, a game which ended 2-1 in favor of Diego Simeone’s side. Beyond just the fact that this is the first time that the visitors have managed to win against Barcelona at their home ground in a very long time, this result also now puts Atletico Madrid at the top of the table.

However, while there were definitely many players who should have done better in that game, there was one who simply could not have done much else. Pedri, aged 22, showcased once again why he is most certainly one of the best midfielders in the world and that he is well and truly back.

As highlighted by SPORT, the Spanish midfielder ran the game for Barcelona from start to finish and was arguably the team’s only silver lining from a rather disappointing game. The chances that he created, the control that he provided, and the initiatives he took all guaranteed that the Catalan giants would end up dominating proceedings while limiting the opposition.

From among his many highlights from the last game, his goal would be an obvious one to pick out. Carrying the ball from a fair distance away from the Atletico Madrid goal, he played an exquisite one-two with fellow Spaniard Gavi, before slotting a composed finish into the bottom corner of Jan Oblak’s goal.

However, that was not all that Pedri created in terms of goal threatening chances. He constantly provided his teammates with excellent passes, and a fair few of them should have been easy assists for him had his forwards finished off the chances he created.

From the quality of his touches, his turns, and his reading of the game, the young player was simply unplayable. With the kind of display he put out, he definitely deserved more from this game than just a loss. Unfortunately, that can be the cruel reality of football at times.

With an 89% passing accuracy and having successfully completed all 8 long balls that he attempted, Pedri was sensational. Moreover, with the youngster having player in all 24 games so far this season, it is clear to see that his fitness levels are back to their best level and his presence is definitely a blessing for Barcelona.