The intense 2020/21 campaign has paid its toll to Barcelona midfielders, as none of Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong did enjoy much rest ahead of the 2020 European Championship.
Ronald Koeman gave the midfield trio excessive playing time last season, with Pedri and De Jong being rested for just a few games when the season was practically over for the Blaugrana.
The congested schedule resulted in numerous trips without any substantial rest before Euro 2020. As a result, Busquets, De Jong and Pedri, all of whom are important players for both Barcelona and their national teams, seem to be exhausted.
De Jong
The Dutchman played 5,651 minutes of football in a single season, featuring in as many as 64 games in all competitions. De Jong averaged more than 88 minutes per game, as both Koeman and Frank de Boer considered him as undisputed starter for Barcelona and the Netherlands, respectively.
Tireless Busquets
Busquets missed out on Spain's Euro 2020 opener due to COVID-19, but upon his return to action, Luis Enrique has re-established him in the starting line-up.
La Roja will play Switzerland in the quarter-final on Friday, with Busquets having registered 4,065 minutes across 57 games so far this season.
Pedri's year
Having arrived as a promising talent from Las Palmas, Pedri gradually became indispensable at both Barcelona and the Spanish national team, having played a total of 4,238 minutes across 63 games.
Meanwhile, Pedri has been called up by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to feature in this summer's Tokyo Olympics for Spain and the RFEF are not considering dropping him from the squad to allow him some rest ahead of the 2021/22 course.