Leaders Barcelona made it eight wins in nine LaLiga matches as Pedri’s second-half goal secured a slender 1-0 victory over Girona on Saturday.
Xavi’s side struggled in the first half at Estadi Montilivi, with their frustration compounded by the loss of Ousmane Dembele to injury before the break.
They improved after half-time and sealed three points just past the hour when Pedri marked his 100th appearance for the club with his fifth league goal of the season.
The result moved Barca six points clear at the league summit, although Real Madrid can reduce the deficit back to three when they host third-placed Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Barca suffered a blow in the 26th minute when Dembele pulled up holding his left leg, with the France international replaced by Pedri.
The 20-year-old midfielder initially did little to spark life into Xavi’s spluttering side, who went in at the break having mustered just two tame efforts on target.
He came to the fore following the interval, though, tapping in from close range in the 61st minute after Paulo Gazzaniga failed to deal with Jordi Alba’s low cross from the left.
Girona responded well to that setback, with Michel’s side putting significant pressure on the Barca backline in the closing stages.
An unmarked Ivan Martin inexplicably fired wide from six yards late on, with the visitors ultimately scraping maximum points as they bid to win their first title since the 2018-19 season.
Girona player ratings
GK: Paulo Gazzaniga (4); RB: Arnau Martinez (6); CB: Juanpe (5); CB: Bernardo (6); LB: Miguel Gutierrez (7); DM: Oriol Romeu (6); RM: Yan Couto (6); CM: Yangel Herrera (5); CM: Aleix Garcia (6); LM: Rodrigo Riquelme (5); ST: Valentin Castellanos (5)
Substitutes: Valery Fernandez (6), Toni Villa (5), Cristhian Stuani (5), Joel Roca (N/A), Ivan Martin (N/A)
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6/10 – Barely involved at all but had to be alive in the dying embers to keep Barcelona ahead.
RB: Jules Kounde – 5/10 – Offered a little bit going forwards and was impressive at the back, although his limited passing ability was a bit of an issue against a stubborn back line.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 6/10 – Excellent passing and solid enough defensively. Didn’t really need to get out of second gear.
CB: Eric Garcia – 5/10 – A few shaky moments at the back over on the weakest side of Barcelona’s defence.
LB: Marcos Alonso – 1/10 – Celebrated signing his new contract with one of the most anonymous performances you will ever see.
DM: Sergio Busquets – 4/10 – A lot of sideways passing without any real ambition whatsoever. Too slow for a game like this.
CM: Gavi – 6/10 – Really underwhelming in the first half as he was forced out wide to replace Dembele, but he stepped up his urgency after the break.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 5/10 – Made the odd nice run to try and make something happen but wasn’t as impactful as you’d expect. Struggled to find his place in the system.
RW: Raphinha – 4/10 – The most dangerous of any of Barcelona’s forwards but still far too wasteful. Crossing the ball into 5’8 Gavi didn’t work, surprisingly.
ST: Ansu Fati – 2/10 – Couldn’t get involved whatsoever. So stationary when waiting for the ball. Has to do more as the team’s focal point.
LW: Ousmane Dembele – 5/10 – Tweaked his hamstring midway through the first half and had to ask to come off.
Substitutes
Pedri (25′ for Dembele) – 7/10 – Took a little while to get going but made the telling impact after the break.
Jordi Alba (46′ for Alonso) – 6/10 – A significant upgrade on Alonso. Bagged the important assist, with a little help from Gazzaniga, but wasn’t all that convincing in defence.
Alejandro Balde (81′ for Fati) – N/A
Franck Kessie (88′ for Raphinha) – N/A
Manager
Xavi – 5/10 – Cut a frustrated figure during the first half as his team offered nothing in attack. Made the right call to swap out Alonso but you didn’t need to be a genius to work that one out. Failed to show the ability to shift tactic to break Girona down.
