Pedri struggling to find an explanation for Barca´s drop in form

Pedri has been left puzzled by Barcelona’s drop-off in LaLiga, after Hansi Flick’s team suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Leganes.

Barca had 20 shots and finished with 2.6 expected goals on Sunday, yet Sergio Gonzalez’s fourth-minute attempt proved the difference at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

The Blaugrana have now won just one of their last five matches in LaLiga, with that slump seeing Atletico Madrid join them at the summit, with Real Madrid just a point behind. Both capital clubs have a game in hand on Barca, too.

And star midfielder Pedri is struggling to explain what is going wrong for a team that started the season so well.

“It’s impossible for us to go home feeling happy after what happened,” Pedri told DAZN after the defeat to Leganes.

“We didn’t have the spark that is needed up-front to score goals and we have to go into games better, we can’t allow our rivals to score goals in the beginning like this.

“I think we have created chances but we have to know how to finish. It’s hard to find an explanation for why we have been struggling in LaLiga but we need to get a move on.”

61.08 – Barcelona v Leganés (61.08) was the game with the highest time in play in @LaLigaEN matchday 17. Suprising. pic.twitter.com/eivi4IY1hV

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 16, 2024

With Flick serving a two-game suspension following his red card against Real Betis last week, Marcus Sorg led Barca from the touchline against Leganes.

And he believes the squad are struggling with the workload as fixtures begin to pile up.

“We have to learn from this experience because the schedule has been tough on the players. We have played a lot of very demanding games in a few days and the team is not used to this,” Sorg told DAZN.

“It is very hard to understand this defeat. The first problem was the lack of concentration in the first five minutes of the game when we conceded that first goal.

“Still, we managed to create 20 scoring opportunities despite not playing a good game and we didn’t score.

“It’s difficult to win like that, when you miss so many chances.

“We are not happy with the current run in the league, but you have to accept things when you try to build a team. We are working hard. We’re at the top and we might lose the lead, but we’re still there.”

Barca’s last match before LaLiga’s winter break sees them take on Atleti on Saturday, in what promises to be an enthralling encounter.