Pedri talks Champions League failure with Barcelona, Bellingham, Gavi...

Barcelona midfielder Pedri has spoken in an exclusive interview with magazine GQ Spain, where he gave an insight into some aspects of his personal life.

The Spain international says he still keeps the boots with which he made his Barça debut. “I have the first pair of boots with which I made my debut and with which I scored my first goal for Barça. It was a special moment, it will always remain in my memory. I also like to keep the shirts with which I played in a final, and the first one I played in as a professional,” he explains.

On winning LaLiga with Barcelona

“We’ve won LaLiga with four games to go. We’ve had it much easier than on other occasions.”

Champions League failure

“I think this season in the Champions League was difficult. I think in the away games against Inter and Bayern Munich we didn’t have the luck we expected. At Bayern’s ground, I had two chances to score and I didn’t. I think that if we had been more accurate, we could have got a better result and got through the group. It was a blow not to get out of the group and for me it was a failure. But we have to overcome it. We are Barça and we have to improve so that next year it doesn’t happen. In Europe, the teams are more physical and are much better prepared than in LaLiga. You can see the quality of the players. We had some very difficult opponents, like Bayern, United and Inter.”

Xavi

“I play in the same position he [Xavi] played in and he can explain the ins and outs of the game to me. He always tells me to look before I receive. Well, we always try to have the ball and use the ball to play touch football, as Barça have always done and as our history shows. It’s true that this year we’ve been very good in defence.”

Pedri a Bellingham fan

On the players he admired and the ones he admires now

“Iniesta, always. I like to watch players with quality and I enjoy not only watching them, but also learning from them. Bellingham, for example, is very good. I like to watch his games. I also learn from Gavi, how he goes for every ball and doesn’t lose the ball. Gabri Veiga is also on the rise and I like to watch how he plays.”

On Spain national team

“I think we have a good squad and good players. We are a young team with a lot of talent and little by little we’ll improve. I think we have a lot of room for improvement, we are very young.”

On dealing with injury

“I think that when you’re out of action you can train a lot more, especially your legs. You can also train the upper body more, which is something I’ve been able to do more. In the beginning, injuries are always a pain, always. Now I try to eat much better to avoid injuries. I didn’t eat badly before, but now I follow a diet. I can’t eat my mother’s croquettes anymore!”