Barcelona expect Pedri to be back in action this weekend after roughly a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. His return will be a welcome boost as the Catalans have hit a sticky patch, suffering defeats to Atlético Madrid and Girona.
He is reportedly due around 15 minutes of game time in the second half against Levante on Sunday in La Liga, and Barcelona will then consider starting him against Villarreal next time out. Hansi Flick wants to ease the Spain international back carefully, with the ultimate aim of ensuring he is 100% ready for the Copa del Rey second leg against Atlético in March.
Barcelona face a mountain after losing the first leg 4-0 in the Spanish capital, but Flick refused to give the tie up: “We will come back. We need to start from the beginning. When you see Atlético players, they had more will, more hunger. And this is what I want from the first minute. We didn’t show that in the first half,” he said.
“We have the second leg. We will fight for that. If we are able to win each half 2-0, this is our goal. We need our fans in Camp Nou and we will see what happens.”
