How much do Barcelona depend on Pedri? With midfielder injured, we're about to find out

Pedri's injury absence could hardly have come at a worse time for Barcelona or Spain. However, for everyone who's been arguing that Barça and the reigning European champions are far too dependent on their little midfield genius, it's come at the perfect time to test the contenders to his throne. It's also a great moment to examine how coaches Hansi Flick and Luis De La Fuente try to cope in the coming weeks while Pedri recovers from a thigh injury.

Here are the stark facts: Barcelona are five points behind LaLiga leaders Real Madrid and outside the Champions League top eight -- which means they'd have to enter the playoff round if they are still there at the end of the league phase -- but need to play Celta Vigo, Real Betis, Club Brugge and FIFA Club World Cup champions Chelsea away from home without their best player this season. In fact, he's arguably been Europe's best midfielder this season.

Spain, for whom Pedri has been man of the match in each of their last two wins, need good results away against Georgia and at home to Turkey to ensure they win Group E and qualify directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A draw (or defeat) in Tbilisi with Turkey winning their last two fixtures, including against Spain in Seville later this month, would leave La Roja second in the group and needing to sweat it next March against other runners-up.

Unlikely? Yes, but more likely without Pedri.

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If you've been watching the darting, daring, delightful Canary Islander who turns 23 in a couple of weeks, then you'll already be nodding in agreement. He's a special footballer; a problem-solver, an unpicker of midfields. The ball loves him so much, it seeks him out. Pedri is a man of solutions, a player tailor-made to complement forwards who crave being given the ball in advantageous situations. He's a cool drink in the desert.

With Pedri dictating things in midfield in their first two home games of the season, they had 71% possession of the ball in the 3-0 win against Getafe and in the 6-0 over Valencia -- their biggest win this season -- the stat was 72%. But that was the norm. Even in defeat away to a superior Madrid in the Clásico, Flick's team had the ball nearly 69% of the time at the Bernabéu. It partly explains why a more threatening, competitive, quicker Madrid only scored twice instead of the six or seven they threatened to. After all, you need the ball, even if not extravagant amounts of it, to score when you're outplaying your rivals.

With Pedri absent at the weekend for the home game against newly promoted Elche, Spain's champions "lost" the possession battle, 49% to 51%. A really dramatic drop-off; Elche used that ball gain not only to score, but to hit the woodwork twice, although they still lost 3-1 (stream a replay on ESPN+ in the U.S.). Elche's own match report on their official website even said: "Pedri's absence obliged Frenkie De Jong to 'multiply himself' and when he tired in the final third of the match, Barcelona weren't able to keep the ball, threaten us or play consistently." Their rivals know.

LaLiga lists Pedri as the guy who's made most passes (893) this season even after missing 90 minutes on Sunday. Football publication Marca list him as the third-best in LaLiga at "recuperating" possession (behind Álvaro Carreras and Luis Milla, who've each played a game more) with 65 successes. And in Europe, UEFA's Champions League stats show that Pedri is just outside the top five midfielders for successful/accurate/completed passes this season (193), but that he's got a higher pass accuracy (94.3%) than each of the players who have completed a higher number of passes than him. It means that they've been on the pitch more and passed the ball more but, pound-for-pound, Pedri is still the most successful and accurate of any Champions League midfielder this season.

Those who care about Barcelona will wince at the memory of Xavi's last season in charge, and how they tried defending their LaLiga title without Pedri. The midfielder had three long injury absences during the 2023-24 season, costing him 131 days and 25 matches for club and country. Barcelona lost both Clásicos that year -- one when he was out injured and the other when he was just back but nowhere near fully match-fit.

Indeed, the number of points surrendered when Pedri was either absent or returned to play minor minutes match, exactly, the margin by which Carlo Ancelotti's Madrid won the title (10). And just to tie a ribbon on all this, the only two matches De La Fuente has lost as Spain coach in 90 minutes (a Euro 2024 qualifier in Scotland and a friendly against Colombia) both took place when Pedri was out injured.

Coincidences? Judge for yourselves.

While Pedri recovers, the natural new partner for De Jong is Marc Casadó. You remember him? He had utterly brilliant assists for Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at this stage last season -- plus a five-star, man-of-the-match performance on his full debut for Spain in a 3-2 win against Switzerland in Tenerife.

The 22-year-old Catalan is different from the sorcerer to whom he is apprentice. He tends to play as a deeper-lying midfielder -- someone who's on the ball less often, but is more dedicated to defensive organisation. He's clever in the speed of his distribution, and a Tasmanian devil of a tackler. All-round, Casadó is fun to watch and a fanatical fan of the club he plays for.

When picked in the XI, Casadó will liberate De Jong -- or Dani Olmo, Fermín López or Marc Bernal, all of whom can play No. 8 in the midfield double pivot -- to surge forward, break lines and associate with the strikers. It's a big opportunity. one for which he's yearned, and one for which he needed the help of a sports psychologist in order to wait patiently.

Casadó told Mundo Deportivo: "I'm very ambitious, and that can sometimes backfire. You get frustrated and nervous when playing opportunities don't come to you. My family and friends calm me a lot, and finding a sports psychologist helped when I was working my hardest, but not getting game time. That frustrated me quite a lot.

"In my head, I kept telling myself that if I wasn't getting the opportunity, it was because I wasn't really giving it my all. So frustrating to know that I was giving it my all, but at the same time, to hear the subconscious voice that I could give more!

"Working with professionals helped me stay calmer because not everything depends on you. You can be giving your best, and the coach doesn't trust you, doesn't use you. You have to stay calm in your work and keep doing the same thing."

I'll bow to no one in my view that while Pedri's a whole different creative force and, on his day, the best midfielder in the world, Casadó is genuinely exceptional. Smart, quick, tough, talented and competitive -- so many clubs would bite Barcelona's hand off to have him.

Whether there's enough time for Casadó to oust others in the Spain national team depends on how fit and available legends like Fabián Ruiz and Rodri are, having suffered difficulties in the last few months. Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi would be ahead in the queue too, with Olmo and Fermín (now fit) firm De La Fuente favourites.

Opportunity beckons for individuals, but there is also a heightened level of uncertainty for Barcelona and Spain. It's time for club and country to demonstrate that despite appearances to the contrary, they don't suffer with dependency on Pedri at all.