Barcelona captain asked to come off late in the 4-1 win at Galatasaray.. and then revealed the real reason

On a night when Barcelona came from behind to win 4-1 at Galatasaray’s Ali Sami Yen stadium, the team’s captain caught everyone’s attention in the closing minutes when he asked to come off himself.

The moment worried Barça fans ahead of a run of huge fixtures, but the player spoke after the game and revealed the real reason in clear terms.

Pedri, who wore the armband in Istanbul and put on a midfield masterclass, explained to Movistar that the substitution request was not because of an injury: “My stomach was hurting and I felt a bit unwell. It was better to ask to come off and let someone fresh come on.”

The Canary Islander also explained why Barcelona struggled in the first half: “I think in the first half we rushed the final pass a lot. We had the ball, we saw a lot of space and we gambled on the last pass. We needed to move it around more and let the forwards get in, like we did in the second half.”

On the reaction after Galatasaray took the lead, he said: “When Galatasaray go ahead in this atmosphere it gets complicated, but I’ll take the team’s reaction. The second half was spectacular.”

Pedri also answered doubts about the team’s goalscoring, with Barcelona now on 43 goals in 10 official matches: “People said we didn’t have goals, but we are showing that this squad has them. We have a lot of quality players, including those who come off the bench.”

He ended by looking ahead to the big games against Real Betis, PSG and Real Madrid: “Very important games are coming. We have to enjoy them and, above all, win them.”