FC Barcelona are going to be taking on Athletic Club in their upcoming La Liga fixture. After getting a hard fought victory over Valencia away from home, La Blaugrana can now finally look forward to making their home debut for their season. However, Athletic Club will not be an easy opponent to beat, and Barcelona will be aware of this.
To ensure that they are up to the task, Hansi Flick will need all his best players available. Unfortunately, many key players are still out injured and will need some more time to recover. Moreover, the recent victory over Valencia also gave Barça an unwanted scare.
Alejandro Balde, Barça’s electric young left-back who has just recently returned from a previous injury, also looked to have been injured in the recent clash after suffering a knock on his hamstring. However, fortunately for Barcelona, it appears that his injury was nothing but a knock.
A day after the victory, as highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, the 20-year-old Spanish fullback was seen training with the rest of his teammates. At the Ciutat Esportiva, as the players went about their normal reactivation and recovery sessions, Balde was present and went about business as normal.
However, this hardly comes as a surprise after the positive update that the player himself and Hansi Flick gave after the game. The German coach stated that it was nothing to worry about and that it was simply a knock that would have to be looked at. Moreover, the Barcelona player himself also stated on Instagram that he is fine.
Now, with his fitness not a concern, Balde’s availability is a huge blessing for the team. His performance against Valencia was strong and Barça will need his services to help them throughout this very long and demanding season coming up ahead.
A player whose fitness and future are both uncertain at the moment, however, is Ilkay Gundogan. Having been left out of the squad for the recent game against Valencia, the player is reportedly now being linked to a move away from Barcelona and possibly back to a former club of his.
