Pedri loses his fear in front of goal for Barcelona
Pedri set out to move into double figures this season. He has already scored five, equalling his best tally since he arrived at Barça.
Pedri is starting to believe in himself more in the box. Barely a week after he scored in the Super Cup final in Riyadh after a cross from Gavi, he netted the only of the game against Getafe as Barcelona stayed top of the table. The goal came from another cross from Raphinha in another of those transitions that Barça are making the most of in recent times.
The Canary Islander celebrated by making the gesture of shaving his hair. “It’s for my cousin Abraham who is bald,” he joked after the match. It was Pedri’s fifth goal of the season. He has already equalled his best goal tally in a season since he arrived at Barça. He scored four in the 2020-21 season and five in 2021-22.
Pedri looks for more goals
It is clear that Pedri has lost his fear of arriving in the box, something that Xavi asked of him. He still needs to loosen up with his long-range shooting. And he has it, as he showed against Sevilla last season. He is now better at reading the game and getting on the end of crosses as he showed last week. Determined to improve as a player, the Canary Islander has set his sights on reaching double figures this season. He wants at least ten goals. In the semi-final in Riyadh against Real Betis, it was he who set up the opener with a spectacular pass to Ousmane Dembélé. He has also learned to take on responsibility, taking a penalty in that shoot-out.
Although he continues to show his quality, on Sunday he made a serious mistake in a pass to Ter Stegen that was intercepted by Borja Mayoral. His gesture when the former Real Madrid man was facing the German netminder showed how he is not used to that type of mistake. And with Xavi, it is absolutely fundamental to be good on the ball. That, good ball control, is something that Pedri is blessed with.