Premature Pedri Return Possible For Athletic Club Clash In Bilbao

FC Barcelona playmaker Pedri could make a surprise, premature return from injury at the weekend, according to reports.

The Spain international hobbled before half time in an eventual 2-2 Europa League playoff first leg draw with Manchester United at Camp Nou in mid-February.

After tests were carried out the following morning, he was diagnosed with a knock to “the rectus femoris of the right thigh” and hasn’t featured for the Blaugrana since.

Barca have clearly struggled without the 20-year-old. After being knocked out of the mentioned continental competition by United via a 2-1 comeback win in the second leg, they then suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away at Almeria that saw them fluff a chance to go 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

In their following fixture, a Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, Barca mustered a valiant 1-0 win over their bitter rivals in the Bernabeu but again suffered without Pedri’s usual control of the tempo while battling on the backfoot for the duration.

Following Ronald Araujo’s early second half dismissal, a similar script played out in yesterday’s 1-0 win over Valencia. Barca managed to extend their lead over Madrid from seven to nine points this time after Los Blancos drew at Real Betis, but a 35-minute struggle to keep their lead granted by a Raphinha header on the quarter of an hour mark ensued and left Xavi to rue a failure to kill off games.

The manager is set to be boosted by the return of Robert Lewandowski from his own thigh knock and Gavi from suspension in the Blaugrana’s next outing, though. And according to AS, Pedri could also line up in Bilbao against Athletic Club on Sunday.

Pedri wasn’t expected to don his number ‘8’ shirt until a March 19 league Clasico against Madrid at Camp Nou that could well decide the title race, yet a locker room source has said him playing at San Mames is “difficult but not impossible”.

Xavi and his staff haven’t made a final decision on the matter, which is expected to be finalized in the coming days. In any case, even if he were to scrape the squad, Pedri will start from the bench and later be afforded a 20 to 25 minute cameo at the most.

This is a wise course of action to take for what is typically one of the hardest grounds in Spain to play in, and would therefore not risk crocking the player again ahead of vital meetings with Madrid in both the league and Copa del Rey where the magic of ‘Pedri Potter’ will be needed most.