Injury woes for Barcelona following Clasico defeat

For the third time in Ronald Koeman’s tenure, Barcelona lost El Clasico to Real Madrid, 1-0 at the Camp Nou. The loss, as it turns out, might be the least of their worries.

Adding injury to insult, a number of players picked up knocks during the course of the game and are now doubts for their midweek match away to Rayo Vallecano.

According to Sport, Frenkie de Jong started despite carrying a hamstring injury. He didn’t want to miss such an important game and decided to play through it. He was pulled in the 77th minute for Sergi Roberto.

In the end, the Dutch midfielder ended up further aggravating the injury and is practically ruled out for against Rayo Vallecano and a doubt to play in the Alaves match on the weekend.

Koeman not blameless for the string of Barcelona injuries

Koeman has been heavily criticized for the team’s lack of identity and general poor display. It would be unfair to place the entire blame for some of the recent injuries but a portion of it could be placed on his shoulders.

The calendar has been rough for every team in football. One of the ways to avoid injuries to players is to rotate. He hasn’t done that with De Jong who has played nearly every game for club and country in the past year.

He went a similar route with Pedri who only got a few weeks break before he was thrown in against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He got injured and was then rushed back two weeks later only to be sidelined again.

It’s hard not to look at the team and see Riqui Puig continually being ignored by Koeman and not come to the conclusion either Pedri or De Jong could be given a break if Koeman only gave him an opportunity. He hasn’t and now they find themselves without two of their most important midfielders.

But they aren’t the only ones Barcelona should be concerned about.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalans are also keeping their eyes on Ansu Fati and Gerard Pique. The former was subbed off late in the second half as a precaution. He injured his knee but, fortunately, it’s not the one he had surgery on.

He is expected to be available for the next match but one has to imagine Barcelona will play it careful with him and might decide to play him if absolutely necessary.

Pique is a peculiar case as there were no reports about him being injured. He apparently played the game with discomfort in his calf.

The lack of faith Koeman has with certain players in his squad has come back to haunt him. Sooner or later he is going to have to utilize them instead of sending his team out knowing some aren’t fully fit.

No better time like the present to start and despite Rayo Vallecano being ahead of Barcelona in the table, it would not be a surprise if Koeman features a rotated side.