4/5 long balls, 116 passes: 22-year-old Barcelona star stands out in disappointing loss to Leganes | OneFootball

The scintillating attacking form of FC Barcelona back in the month of October seems to be a thing of the past with Hansi Flick’s men now putting in Jekyll & Hyde-esque displays and not showcasing any sort of consistency.

Having steamrolled opposition in the past this season, Barcelona could not score a single goal against Leganes on the weekend despite creating a truckload of chances. Robert Lewandowski, in particular, had a poor game, missing some guilt edge chances.

It was a very weird game to analyze in general because by all metrics, except the one that actually matters, Barcelona should have won this game comfortably. Yet, they have squandered the chance to solidify their La Liga lead and come into the Atletico Madrid game under massive pressure.

As per stats from SofaScore, despite the disappointing result, there is one Barcelona player who had an excellent game against Leganes – Pedri. He played the entirety of the game, recording 142 touches and completing 116 of his 125 attempted passes with an impressive 93% accuracy.

He had an xA of 0.64 with two key passes, completing 1 out of his 3 attempted crosses and 4 out of his 5 long balls. This included one big chance created. He also completed both of his attempted dribbles and won five out his seven ground duels.

Apart from this, one quality that Pedri brings to the table that no stat shows is his ability to control a game. However, against Leganes, who sat in a very deep block, Barcelona would have controlled the game regardless.

There haven’t been many games this season so far where Pedri has not stepped up for the club. The 22-year-old is one of his best moments since his Barcelona career began and let’s hope he can continue performing at a similar level going forward.