Eighteen-year-old Pedri made a big impression on Tuesday evening in the semi-finals of the European Championship. The talented Spanish international did almost everything well against Italy and received compliments from Luis Enrique afterwards. The national coach is disappointed with the elimination, but could not resist praising the Barcelona midfielder afterwards.
Pedri started under Luis Enrique and proved his worth at Wembley on Tuesday. In regular time, all of his 55 passes came to a teammate. In the first half he set Mikel Oyarbazal free for Gianluigi Donnarumma, but a lousy assumption by the Spanish attacker was not a big chance. In total, the attacking midfielder made 67 passes in 120 minutes, recording a passing accuracy of no less than 97 percent.
“What Pedri has done at this European Championship, at the age of eighteen, no one has ever done in a major final tournament. Not even Don Andrés Iniesta”, the national coach praised the Barcelona talent after the lost penalty series. “His performance, the way he reads the match, how he finds spaces, his quality, his personality… I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s something that defies logic.”
Italy took the lead on Tuesday evening with a goal from Federico Chiesa. Substitute Álvaro Morata then tied the score. Because no goals were scored in extra time, it ended in a penalty shootout. Via Manuel Locatelli and Dani Olmo, both countries missed their first penalties. On behalf of Spain, Morata eventually missed, after which Jorginho used the decisive penalty and shot Italy to the final. In the final battle, Roberto Mancini’s team will face the winner of the semi-final between England and Denmark (9 p.m.).
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