Pedri has consistently put his body on the line to a fault.
But how many times he is put in the same situation? Pedri went for the ball against a bigger player and Denzel beat him to it.
It is a situation he isn't trained for. The same way Raphinha failed to clear the ball, the same reason Olmo failed to mark his man in the 3rd goal.
Those are the reasons those goals were scored. Not imaginary motivational reasons.
Yeah, he beat him to it because he gave up on the duel. Not because of anything else. He shows fighting spirit there, he wins the foul, no goal.
I didn't say he always does that. But this time he did. And those moments can make a difference in a tie like this. That's what it is about.
Everybody knows that if you have a chance to clear the ball in that situation you do it. He didn't do it because he was scared. It's fine, he can do other things other players can't on the ball. In that specific situation, other players would have done better in defense.