Barcelona draw marred by Pedri, De Jong injuries

On March 3rd, 2024 at 9:23 PM.

Barcelona's midfield is dealing with a difficult situation due to injuries. During their LaLiga match against Athletic Club at San Mames on Sunday, both Frenkie de Jong and Pedri had to leave the field in the first half.

De Jong had to be carried out on a stretcher in the 26th minute owing to an unsteady landing on his ankle. The talented Dutch player had already spent around two months on the bench this season with a sprained ankle.

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On the other hand, Pedri had to leave the game just before halftime due to his third muscle injury of the season. He previously dealt with a hamstring injury that kept him on the sidelines for two months in August, as well as missed three weeks due to another muscle problem at the start of the year.

On Monday, both athletes will have scans to assess their injuries, however, according to the coach of Barça, Xavi Hernández, it seems that the situation is not optimistic for either of them.

During the post-game news conference, Xavi stated that the team was significantly impacted by the injuries sustained by Frenkie and Pedri as they play integral roles in executing our desired gameplay.

Pedri has made a comeback after his previous injury and his training has been exceptional this week. Unfortunately, it's a disappointing situation. Frenkie is also a crucial part of our team's strategy. Losing these two players has a significant impact.

The situation appears unfavorable. They weren't present today and will continue to be absent. We can only hope that their absence will be shorter than anticipated.

The game between Barca and Athletic finished with no goals scored, resulting in a tie. As a result, Barca remained in third place with a total of 58 points, which was eight points fewer than the current LaLiga leaders, Real Madrid.

Xavi expressed disappointment as Barça squandered a major chance to close the distance on Madrid. Despite Valencia preventing a win for Madrid on Saturday, Barça failed to take advantage and move up to second place ahead of Girona. Mallorca's triumph over Girona earlier on Sunday only added to the missed opportunity.

Our performance wasn't up to par. The initial quarter of an hour was decent, but it went downhill from there on. We cannot afford to feel content with this performance. We must take a moment to reflect on our shortcomings and aim to improve. We missed an opportunity to move forward in our journey.

Although it is an arduous place to visit, we are let down because our performance did not meet our expectations. The only advantage we can take from the game is our defense.

Nonetheless, the considerable downside was the absence of De Jong and Pedri, just before crucial matches in both LaLiga and the Champions League, leading up to the end of March international recess.

Barcelona has already lost the services of Gavi in midfield. He was sidelined for the entire season since November due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered while playing for Spain.

Xavi was forced to make changes to the starting lineup due to the absence of De Jong and Pedri in Bilbao. He opted to pair centre-back Andreas Christensen and young player Fermín López with Ilkay Gündogan in the midfield.

Barça has the choice to select Oriol Romeu for the midfield position in their upcoming game against Napoli on March 12. This game is the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie, with the first leg ending 1-1 in Italy.

Before that match, Barcelona will have a game at home against Mallorca in LaLiga on Friday. Later on, they will go on an away game to play against top-four competitors Atlético Madrid on March 17th.

Apart from De Jong, Pedri, and Gavi, there are also current injury absences in Barcelona's left-backs, namely Alejandro Balde and Marcos Alonso, as well as forward Ferran Torres.