Barca lost two pillars when rematching Man Utd
In the first leg on the evening of February 16, Pedri had to leave the field in the 41st minute. According to the initial test results, the 20-year-old midfielder injured the anterior rectus muscle in his right leg. He will have to rest for three to four weeks, certainly not being able to play the second leg on February 23. Pedri will also be absent in the first leg of the semi-final first leg of the King's Cup against Real on March 2.
Gavi received a yellow card in the 74th minute. This is the 18-year-old midfielder's third yellow card in the European Cup this season, after two cards in the Champions League group stage. Gavi will have to miss the second leg due to suspension.
Gavi played 32 matches for Barca from the beginning of the 2022-2023 season, while Pedri played 30 matches. They are two of the five players who play the most for the club, alongside goalkeeper Ter Stegen, striker Raphinha and Ansu Fati. Gavi and Pedri are also the owners of the "Golden Boy", the title for the best young player, in the last two years.
In the first leg, coach Xavi replaced Pedri with Sergi Roberto. He will most likely use Roberto or Franck Kessie in the second leg, alongside De Jong and Sergio Busquets. Busquets did not play the first leg due to an ankle injury. Barca also has an important player who is out of action due to injury, which is winger Ousmane Dembele.
Barca took the lead in the first leg from the 50th minute, thanks to a Marcos Alonso header. However, Man Utd played better and came upstream soon after. Marcus Rashford equalized 1-1 with a shot into the near corner after 52 minutes. In the 59th minute, Man Utd led 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Jules Kounde. After the second goal, Barca regained the game. They equalized 2-2 thanks to Raphinha's long shot in the 76th minute.
The second leg will take place at Old Trafford, home of Man Utd. Barca won 1-0 here, in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League 2018-2019. Before that, in the semi-final second leg of the Champions League 2007-2008, Man Utd beat Barca 1-0 on this field.
Barca are leading La Liga. They own 56 points after 21 matches, eight points more than the second ranked team Real. Barca won the 2022-2023 Spanish Super Cup, when they beat Real 3-1 in the final in Saudi Arabia. The two teams also meet in the semi-finals of the King's Cup on March 2 and April 5, as well as the second leg of La Liga on March 19.
Pedri has seven goals in the Barca shirt from the beginning of the 2022-2023 season. The 20-year-old midfielder scored the decisive goal in the matches against Celta Vigo, Getafe, Girona and Villarreal with the same score of 1-0 in La Liga.
