90% Accurate passes – Barcelona midfield star was flawless yet again against Rayo Vallecano | OneFootball

FC Barcelona faced Rayo Vallecano in La Liga last night at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium in what was an important game for the Catalan club. The performance on the night left a lot to be desired but the important part of it was that the team ended up with three points.

With title rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid dropping points during the weekend, it gave Hansi Flick’s men the chance to go top of the table for the first time in a while. However, the pressure was on them to get a result against Rayo and not bottle the initiative handed by those two teams.

Although the performance was far from faultless last night, one player who put in yet another faultless display against Rayo Vallecano just like he has been in a Barcelona jersey for almost the entirety of the season was Pedri. The Spanish midfielder was simply magical with his close control and his passes.

As per stats from SofaScore, Pedri played 90 minutes on the night, registering an xA of 0.20. He recorded 85 touches on the ball, completing 90% of his 69 attempted passes which included some astonishing through balls. He recorded 2 key passes on the night, both of which did not lead to goals!

Pedri attempted two long balls on the night, completing one of them. He had one big chance created, presumably to Raphinha, which the Brazilian was unable to capitalize on last night. He attempted two dribbles and completed both of them.

Impressively, the Canary Islands midfielder put in a defensive shift like he always does, winning 6 out of 8 attempted ground duels. He recorded 1 interception, and 3 tackles and also was fouled once.

There were times in the second half when Pedri almost played like the ball was glued to his feet. His subtle changes in direction often left Rayo defenders in their wake and the 22-year-old added so much poise and control to a game that was largely end-to-end, especially in the closing stages.

With performances like this every passing week, Pedri is slowly yet surely cementing himself as the best midfielder in the world at the moment. There aren’t many names that can even get close to the Spaniard and let’s wait and see how it plays out.