Xavi or Pedri is the best in the world
FC Barcelona won 4-0 against Athletic on Sunday evening, partly thanks to hits from substitutes Luuk de Jong and Memphis Depay. Yet afterwards it was mainly about the young Pedri, who excelled in midfield.
Ten minutes before the end, Pedri got the crowd on the benches at the Camp Nou when he hit the sideline with Athletic captain Mikel Balenziaga with a heel (see tweet below).
“Apart from that action, because that was just a detail, I really thought he played great,” Barcelona coach Xavi said at the press conference after the game. “How he moves between the lines and understands the game, that’s really high level.”
Barcelona recorded its third win in a row on Sunday. Coincidence or not, the Catalan top club has been playing better and better since nineteen-year-old Pedri made his comeback at the end of January after more than three months of injury.
“I’ve never seen a player like him, if you’re talking purely about talent, he’s the best in the world,” Xavi praised. “He has Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric characteristics, but Pedri has more talent.”
‘He doesn’t like to be glorified’
Pedri reminds Xavi of a player he used to play with in Barcelona’s midfield. “He’s a lot like Andres Iniesta, especially the way he shifts the game.”
“Pedri has a perfect understanding of space and time. That understanding of the game is what makes him so good,” said Xavi. “And he is smart. Sometimes he is attacked by three opponents and you think: he is going to lose that ball. And yet he finds a solution, that makes him unique.
I don’t say that to praise him, because he is someone who doesn’t like to be glorified. But I really think he’s the greatest talent in the world.”
Xavi or Pedri is the best in the world
After the big home win, Barcelona is in fourth place in La Liga. With one game less played, the gap with leader Real Madrid is no less than fifteen points.
“At the moment we are not looking too much at Madrid, they are playing very strong. We are just trying to move up one place at a time,” said Xavi.
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