The 2023-24 season is only in its initial phases, but FC Barcelona are already facing an injury crisis. The Catalans have seen a number of their key players miss game time in the last few weeks.
For instance, Ronald Araujo was injured only after the first match day, and Pedri soon joined him in the infirmary. Gundogan also suffered a blow in the international break, and Frenkie de Jong was also sidelined for several weeks because of an incident in the match against Mallorca.
Raphinha out for around a month
As previously reported here, another important player for Xavi, Raphinha, was also injured in last night’s match against Sevilla. The winger affected his leg when trying to control a ball and taking a shot at the opposition goal in the 34th minute of the match.
Now, updates on his injury have been provided by SPORT, which show that the Brazilian has a puncture in the femoral biceps of his right leg, and at the very least, he will miss the next two games for Barcelona.
With a more realistic assessment, Raphinha will be out for three to four weeks but still has a chance to recover by the time Barcelona face Real Madrid in the Classico on 28th October.
Detailed tests pending
The player is set to undergo even more tests in the upcoming hours to get a more detailed idea of the extent of the injury and the time he will need to return to action. However, it is certain that he will not be available for Xavi for the matches against Porto and Granada.
Furthermore, it is also highly likely that Xavi will not have him for the matches against Athletic and Shakhtar Donetsk in the last days of October.
Thus, Xavi sees the list of players unavailable to him because of injury growing further. Pedri and Frenkie de Jong are already out, who are both very important players, and now Raphinha’s injury further complicates the matters for him.
However, this injury will open up more opportunities for Yamal to get more game time and keep showing his incredible talent to the world.
