Injuries are taking their toll on Xavi's Barcelona, who are not allowing them to reach their full potential at the start of the season in which they have alternated victories with games that demand too much of them. His spine is damaged. His foundations have been affected with various physical misfortunes, most of them non-muscular. Koundé joins a list of key pieces that do not arrive or will be without rhythm in the classic. There are 18 days and two games left (Athletic and Shakhtar) for Real Madrid's visit to Montjuïc and the coach does not know which players he can count on. Of the permanent players, only four have not set foot in the infirmary yet: Ter Stegen, Christensen, Balde and Gavi.
The one on October 28 will be a classic marked by absences. Not only those who left (Busquets, Alba or Benzema) but for those who will miss it since Madrid was left without Courtois and Militão for almost the entire season.
A punch to the ground when he was sitting and the shin guards thrown in anger when he reached the bench. Jules Koundé's frustration at having to leave the Nuevo Los Cármenes pitch (in addition, Barça was losing 2-0 at that time) had more reason yesterday when the result of the tests they submitted to his left knee was known, regarding the that Gavi fell after colliding with Uzuni. The French defender suffers a grade II sprain in the internal lateral ligament of the joint and will be in dry dock for a minimum of five weeks but it may be even longer due to the stability of the knee. Center back in fashion at the beginning of the season after playing last season mostly as a winger, Barça is left without the calmness that the Frenchman brings, both without the ball, impregnable in many games, and with the ball. The pairing with Christensen breaks up and Araújo's marking of Vinícius is called into question.
A tough tackle by Carmo in Porto-Barça that the referee did not call as a foul made Lewandowski ask for a change. The Pole was not feeling well and tests confirmed a sprain in his left ankle. She was already out in Granada and is doubtful to play the classic on 28-O. The number nine is another reference and differential footballer for the team. The players follow him because of his experience and he also responds with goals: 33 last season, 6 this one until he was injured. Barça will press its options although last year it already limped into the Cup classic at the Camp Nou (0-4) after missing the first leg.
The Brazilian tore his muscle in Barça-Sevilla after several explosive efforts. He moved his hand to the back of his right thigh, to the dreaded biceps femoris. That was on September 29, exactly four weeks before the classic. Barça is working to recover Raphinha, a footballer with good hitting (2 goals from outside the area) and who, in addition to playing as a winger, was also being used as an interior player. Xavi is very confident in his performance in big games. Last year he started four of the five classics. For the first of 2023-24 it will arrive just, if it is available.
Another accidental injury. Another ankle injury. Another player who falls on top of one of Barça. In this case, Bamba, from Celta, on Frenkie de Jong's right ankle. The Dutchman has an injury to the distal tibioperoneal syndesmosis caused by a strong contusion. The misfortune cuts off the great state of form in which the Dutch brain was because he will have to be out for six weeks of which two have already passed. But he is totally ruled out to receive the whites.
The Canarian midfielder is the one who has the best feelings, according to Xavi himself. He is also the one who has been in nursing the longest. He injured the rectus femoris of his right thigh in training in August. His reappearance is close but the truth is that he has only been able to play two games this season. Pedri has been suffering a lot with injuries since the summer of 2021 and the club wants to be careful. He will be there for the classic but he hasn't played for two months and without rhythm, with the risk that this entails in a duel of the demands of a classic.
A key footballer and head of the defense, the Uruguayan missed five games due to a small tear in his hamstring from which he has now recovered. He has been coming in little by little and against Porto he was seen at their level of speed.
