The Canary Islander plays his 100th game in the domestic competition

It was matchday 3 of the Liga Santander on September 27, 2020. Barça welcomed Villareal for a game that was pretty much in the bag after the first half with the score 4-0. Ronald Koeman decided to make the most of the situation to give some game time to young players in the second half. One of the those changes was Pedri, who was making his competitive debut aged seventeen years old after a superb preseason. Almost four years later, he has now made 100 LaLiga appearances.

The Canary Islander reached this round number of games in the first match of the 24/25 LaLiga season against Valencia. The midfielder came off the bench to replace Ferran after 63 minutes of the blaugranes 2-1 win in Mestalla.

16 goals and 7 assists

The midfielder’s 100 appearances are backed up by some superb stats. He was a starter in 76 of those games, accumulating a total of 6781 minutes on the pitch. What’s more, he has scored 16 goals, provided 7 assists, with only Robert Lewandowski in the current squad scoring more goals in the competition (42) than the Canary Islander since his debut.

Valencia 1-2 Barça: Flick starts with win as Lewy scores a brace

A Lewandowski brace seals the comeback after Hugo Duro scores to see Hansi Flick’s side work hard to win at Mestalla in his first competitive game

Agreat start to the season for the blaugranes, a hardworking win saw Hansi Flick’s side win their first competitive game under his charge. The first LaLiga game of the 2024/25 season saw Barça come back to win 2-1 away at Valencia and open their league account with three points.

Kick off and the blaugranes looked to get Lamine Yamal one on one with Jesús Vázquez, combining with Raphinha playing in more central attacking role to create overloads. Valencia were always a threat though through Almeida in dead ball situations. A long shot by Raphinha was repelled by Mamardashvili, but clear cut chances were still not coming.

Game opens up before the break

No real sign of goals, but Hugo Duro escaped Iñigo Martínez to finish a Diego López cross (1-0, min. 45). Now in added time, Yarek and Cubarsí both proved crucial. Yarek stopped Casadó from equalising on the goal line, while Cubarsi also stopped a Hugo Duro shot in similar fashion.

Another chance seemed to be coming, and it was the last of the half, Lewandowski to the rescue. A striker’s goal, sniffing out where Lamine Yamal’s cross-shot might fall to finish and go in on equal terms at half time (1-1, min. 45+5).

Lewy completes brace after penalty on Raphinha

The second half couldn’t have started better for the blaugranes, Raphinha outfoxing Mosquera to see a penalty awarded that Lewandowski finished for his brace (1-2, min. 49). The Flick-Lewandowski connection seems to be in full flow, tonight’s tally adding to their time at Bayern, the striker now having scored 85 goals in 72 games with Flick as coach. Barça were now in front and controlled the play to limit a dangerous looking Valencia’s chances of equalising.

Gerard Martín debut and Pedri back for game 100

Balde had been feeling some discomfort since the first half, and Flick gave a debut to Gerard Martín, while Christensen came on for Cubarsí on a yellow. Pedri replaced Ferran, his return from injury saw him play his 100th LaLiga game. Worth celebrating and even more so after this hardworking win at Mestalla, where their fans constantly urged on their side. Eric Garcia came on for Bernal as Flick continued to use his squad.

Flick starts with a win

Barça defended well, while looking to make the most of space left by Valencia, a factor that led to Pau Víctor becoming the third to debut this evening. Barça almost scored one more through a great move by Pau Víctor, Gerard Martín, and Casadó, while Lewandowski had another chance after 93 minutes, but ultimately solid work saw out the game for a first opening day win in three after two draws.