Pedri said goodbye to the Euros. The Federation reported this Saturday that the Canary Islander “suffers a grade 2 internal lateral sprain in his left knee.” According to sources from the Spanish delegation in Germany, the Barcelona player will be out for about a month and a half. Pedri, however, will remain with his teammates while La Roja continues in the Euros. A new setback for the Barça player, just at the moment when he seemed to regain confidence after having gone through three difficult years, with nine injuries, eight of them muscular, which forced him to miss 85 games between the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 campaigns. Pedri already knows that he will start next year again in the infirmary.
According to Spain coach Luis De la Fuente, Pedri was beginning to find his way back to Pedri. Instead, he found himself up against Toni Kroos. A situation that did not surprise the Spanish delegation: they had expected German toughness. What did catch their attention was Kroos’ attitude, which was particularly “aggressive” according to the same sources in the match against La Roja. “The Germans gave it away a lot,” insisted those from Spain’s base camp in Germany. After a strong challenge from Kroos, Pedri had to leave the field in the 6th minute.
The Canary Islander, in tears, was embraced by all his teammates on the bench. Gündogan, Pedri’s teammate at Barcelona, asked Ferran Torres about the number 20’s condition. “How is Pedri?” the former City player asked his Barça colleague in the mixed zone of the Stuttgart stadium. Kroos’ reaction was not long in coming. This Saturday, in a farewell letter after finishing his career as a footballer, he sent a message to the Canary Islander. “And one last thing that is very important to me: Sorry and get well soon, Pedri! Logically, it was not my intention to hurt you. A speedy recovery and all the best. You are a great player,” he posted on his social networks.
In the dressing room of La Roja, there were complaints about the referee’s passivity. “It’s hard to understand why he wasn’t given a yellow card before,” said one of the leaders of the Spanish group. After injuring Pedri, Kroos stamped hard on Lamine. He also committed five fouls. He was shown a yellow card in the 66th minute after a foul on Dani Olmo. “It seemed like the referee didn’t want to send him off because it was his last game,” said the same sources from the Spanish group.
Pedri is not the only player that De la Fuente will miss for the match against France next Tuesday for a place in the final in Berlin. Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand will not be able to play against The Blueson Tuesday in Munich. The Real centre-back received his second yellow card of the tournament, while the full-back was sent off. De la Fuente is clear that Pedri’s replacement will be Dani Olmo. However, in the back line he has more questions to answer. Nacho and Jesús Navas can play in Carvajal’s place, while Vivián and Nacho are positioned as possible teammates for Laporte in the centre of defence.
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