Barcelona received more bad news on the injury front as it is being reported that midfielder Pedri suffered an injury relapse and could miss another month of action.
❗️ Pedri has relapsed from his injury and could be out for one more month. [tv3]
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 19, 2021
According to Diario AS, he was unlikely to feature in the Catalan Derby against Espanyol or in the Champions League match against Benfica. Still, the hope was he was on the cusp of returning.
A second relapse makes that scenario impossible.
Barcelona continue to be plagued by injuries
Injuries have hamstrung Barcelona this season with a number of players missing considerable time. That some of them have been dealt a setback when trying to recover has added to some frustration.
The amount of injuries and relapses resulted in various members of the Barcelona medical staff being let go or reassigned. When Xavi took over, he brought his own people with him and some included physios to hopefully solve some of the problems.
Much like with turning Barcelona around, fixing the injury problems is going to take some time.
As for Pedri, his injuries have hampered him from featuring much this season. He first picked up the injury in the Champions League against Bayern Munich on Sept. 14. He came back a couple of weeks later against Benfica only to get injured again.
In his case, his injuries have been exacerbated by playing too many games. In addition to bursting on the scene last season with Barcelona and playing nearly every game, he also did the same for Spain in Euro 2020 and at the Olympics.
Running Pedri into the ground is now having the consequences many warned about.
The only silver lining is the emergence of Nico and Gavi provides the club with depth in midfield. However, Xavi needs to be careful to avoid making the same mistake with them as was done with Pedri.