Barcelona hit hard by the FIFA flu
The last FIFA break hurt Barcelona more than they might think. The Culés announced that defenders Ronald Araujo and Jules Koundé will miss the next couple of games. Then, the team reported that Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay will also miss a couple of games after picking up injuries while on duty with their national team.
Araujo’s came back to Barcelona with an avulsion tear of the adductor longus tendon in his right thigh after the friendly match against Iran. He is expected to miss between six to seven weeks. This means that Barcelona will be without their top defender for at least the two Champions League games against Inter and the La Liga Clásico versus Real Madrid. He might miss the Champions League rematch with Bayern Munich too.
Jules Koundé will miss between three to four weeks with a left hamstring injury. This happened in the UEFA Nations League game between France and Austria. The defender might be ready to play against Real Madrid, but he will miss the two games against Inter in the Champions League.
This week Barcelona announced that the two Dutch players Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay will also miss time. Neither has been a starter but they are key players for Xavi Hernández.
Depay will be out at least a month with a hamstring strain while de Jong also has a thigh complaint though his injury is not as severe as that of his three teammates. The Dutch midfielder will be out for one to two weeks.
Barcelona still has some players that can step up after these four key players. Xavi Hernandez can line up Andreas Christensen instead of Ronald Araujo and the team still has Marcos Alonso and Jordi Alba that can line up instead of Koundé. The game against Mallorca this weekend will show how much Barcelona will be affected by these injuries.