Pedri Will Miss El Clasico And Further Three To Four Weeks

FC Barcelona midfielder Pedri has been ruled out of El Clasico on April 5 and will not return to action for another three to four weeks, according to reports.

The 20-year-old missed Sunday’s edition of the world’s biggest derby where, in his absence, replacements Sergi Roberto and Franck Kessie scored the equalizer and winner respectively to help the Catalans beat Real Madrid 2-1.

The victory fired Barca 12 points clear at the top of La Liga, which means they now have one hand on their first Spanish top flight trophy since 2019.

There is still work to be done elsewhere to secure a domestic treble following January’s Spanish Super Cup final triumph against Los Blancos, however.

On the already mentioned date, April 5, the Blaugrana host their bitter rivals once more in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and boast a 1-0 advantage from the first leg because of their defensive heroics in the Bernabeu earlier this month.

After Pedri was expected to make last weekend’s Clasico but had hopes of a return from a hamstring knock ruled out when suffering discomfort in training on Friday, Relevo and Catalunya Radio have both said that the playmaker won’t make Barca’s next games after the international break either.

These are namely a trip to Elche in La Liga on April 1 before the following Wednesday’s last four Cup decider with Madrid.

Rather than making his long awaited comeback against Girona on April 10 at home, Pedri could be out until Barca receive Madrid’s cross-city rivals Atletico Madrid on April 23.

The news will come as a blow to head coach Xavi Hernandez, who has clearly missed the attacking midfielder’s influence in the center of the park.

On the wing, however, there is still some hope he might be able to deploy Ousmane Dembele with the Frenchman steadily recovering from the thigh knock he suffered in January.

Dembele being omitted from the France squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Frenkie de Jong’s Netherlands team and Ireland will also allow him to further rest, but it will simultaneously complicate life for Raphinha.

With Dembele sidelined, the Brazilian has become Xavi’s number once choice as the only pure winger in his 4-3-3 that boasts four midfielders yet could be shifted to the bench.