Pedri comes of age

One of the stars of Euro 2020 has without doubt been Pedri González. The FC Barcelona midfielder has had a spectacular tournament as one of the key members of Luis Enrique's Spain squad. 

The Barça teenager started all six of Spain's games in the tournament and played all but the final minute of the extra time win in the quarter-finals against Switzerland. 629 minutes in total, an average of more than 100 minutes per game and just one less than goalkeeper Unai Simón and defender Aymeric Laporte who played every minute of every game. 

Furthermore, Pedri's passing is also worthy of praise. Of the 461 passes he made, 421 were successful, a percentage of 91.32%. At the age of just 18 the Canary Islander completed 65 of 67 passes, a 97% success rate against a formidable Italy side in the semi-final of the European Championships. Pedri ranks third in terms of number passes in the tournament behind team mates Laporta and fellow blaugrana Jordi Alba. 

Despite his youth, Pedri handled the tournament like a seasoned veteran, dominating the midfield to such an extent that his national team coach Luis Enrique felt moved to say the following: "I have never seen an 18 year old kid play in the European Championships like Pedri, not even Andrés Iniesta. It's crazy, we have to take care of him." 

Pedri is the player who ran most in the tournament with 76.1km covered in the six games, four more than second placed Italian midfielder Jorginho. The Barça man was also fouled 13 times, the third most in Euro 2020 and won the ball back 25 times. A complete midfielder despite his age who plays like a veteran campaigner.