More reasons to leave Gordon and Rodri speechless

BarcelonaExcellent. Ten out of ten. It is very difficult, almost impossible, for Barça to start a season any better. Expectations exceeded. Hansi Flick's team completed their first ten consecutive official matches won (eight in La Liga and two in the Champions League) with a win at Galatasaray's ground that required a reaction to a hesitant start (1-4). Now the calendar gets complicated, with three matches that will test the forceful opinion of Joan Laporta, who stated without hesitation that the team he presides over plays "the best football" in the world. Betis this Saturday, PSG next Tuesday, and Real Madrid on October 25th will be delighted to water down the wine that the Barcelona faithful have been tasting for weeks every time they sit down to watch Lamine Yamal and company play.

Focusing on this Tuesday's duel, only the brace of goal assists (the second, preceded by a brand-new dribble) from the Maresme-born forward eclipsed the recital by Pedri González to silence the Turkish hell. The Canary Islander was the footballer on whom Barça relied to overcome Batrakov's opening goal and ward off the ghosts of the first stumble of the season. Despite asking to be substituted in the 70th minute due to a stomach discomfort that he himself confessed, he was the second player who completed the most passes of the 32 who stepped onto the pitch. He made 69, of which two served to generate goal-scoring opportunities. But the most important thing is not measured in statistics: he was the Blaugrana beacon in the final third, right where spaces tighten and the goals are cooked up for teams that, like Flick's side, usually find themselves facing low blocks.

In 2022, precisely at Istanbul's Ali Sami Yen, Pedri introduced himself to the world as a midfielder capable of stopping time. He scored a highly memorable goal after dropping two defenders inside the box with two very elegant feints. Four years and a bit later, he bewitched his opponents again with every press and made his teammates play with deliveries that often only he can execute. One of the greatest beneficiaries of his vision of the game is Anthony Gordon, who has gone from praising him as a rival –"Watching how he keeps the ball is a learning experience for me," the Englishman said about the Canary Islander a year ago– to enjoying him up close. "I've made many runs in my career that no one has seen, but now I have Pedri, who sees everything absolutely," Gordon insisted in a recent interview, which has earned him some criticism in England. Be that as it may, the former Newcastle player has returned from the break with his nose for goal sharpened. He has accumulated two consecutive matches finding the back of the net.

A fierce competition

Another colleague admired by Pedri's movements is Rodrigo Hernández. A few days ago, during the Barça-Getafe match, the cameras caught the Madrid native making comments on the bench once again. "What a player!", he exclaimed. In Istanbul, the former City player started and contributed his entire arsenal of dominant central midfielder resources to make the Canary Islander shine, who has more fuel to generate danger in attack because he knows that, in defense, there is someone covering his back. In this sense, against Galatasaray, Rodri made a total of seven recoveries and, with 113 passes, was the player who touched the ball the most times during the 90 minutes. The Rodri-Pedri duo, little used during the last World Cup, is a guarantee in controlling the game, as shown by the favorable possession data (65%) from the visit to Istanbul.

If he doesn't catch a cold, this pair in the Blaugrana midfield is destined to leave few scraps for other midfielders in the Barcelona squad such as Marc Bernal, Pablo Gavi, and Frenkie de Jong. Flick has involved the Berguedà native in all matches, although he has not selected him as a starter since the end of August. The Andalusian has played less, starting only on two occasions and being a substitute without participating in three of the eight matches in which he has been available. All this without De Jong, still injured, having joined the coach's plans. In fact, as reported by SER Catalunya, the Dutchman will end up playing as a center-back.