Proceedings continue in the Barcelona match against Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Sevilla at the Montjuic Stadium. However, it seems that some bad news is set to be heard by fans of La Blaugrana just as they began to have faith that their players would gradually begin to start returning from injury, rather than seeing that list get longer.
Around the 34th minute of the first half, Raphinha received a great over-the-top pass from his Barcelona teammate, Joao Cancelo. Upon receiving the pass, Raphinha was unable to properly stabilize himself before striking a rather unconvincing shot at Nyland with Sergio Ramos right on his tail.
Ultimately, the shot got stopped by the Sevilla goalkeeper but as play resumed up field, Raphinha stayed in the Sevilla box clutching his legs, specifically his hamstring. Moments later, the Brazilian winger was down on the ground looking distraught.
Since then, as highlighted by SPORT, the player has been substituted for youngster Fermin Lopez and taken to have treatment on the sidelines. Looking visibly frustrated, it seems that the 26-year-old has suffered an injury in his hamstring and it does not look good for the Barcelona winger nor his coach Xavi Hernandez.
The game was supposed to be a great chance for Raphinha to cement his place back into the starting eleven, even being started as a proper number ten in the advanced midfield role, but it seems that the former Leeds United winger is set to miss out on even more football due to injury.
With Raphinha now out for an unknown amount of time, he joins Spanish midfielder Pedri and Dutch maestro Frenkie De Jong on the sidelines. Three key Barcelona stars are now injured and in the process of recovery with important clashes coming up in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
Eyes will now be set on Xavi Hernandez to overcome this hurdle. With the Barcelona manager having a good squad to turn towards as well as the subsidiary to rely on, it will be interesting to see how he manages to deal with this unfortunate scenario.
