This season has been a constant reminder for FC Barcelona to cherish the moments that they have with their key players. Injuries and suspensions are completely spontaneous at times, and they have greatly impacted the club before. Ultimately, such unwanted occurrences are always detrimental for Barcelona and their objectives.
Already this season, many influential players have been injured at various points already. Ahead of the official campaign, stars like Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Gavi, and several others were already injured and unavailable for selection.
However, Hansi Flick’s constant issues with injuries are not the first of its kind at Barcelona. Even previously, his predecessor Xavi Hernandez had to go through the same kinds of problems and had to endure around the same level of frustrations when it came to injuries.
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, Flick has started off this season with an average of 5 injured players per game. This average is taking into account the number of players that were already sidelined heading into each independent official game so far this season.
Initially, however, Xavi’s headaches were not nearly as severe as the ones that Flick is having to deal with. In the case of the previous Barcelona coach, the initial average was two injured players per game but this greatly increased by the time October came around in his final season at the club.
That number increased from two to eight, a drastic and greatly worrying increase. This mainly came from international duty injuries as well as the lack of fitness beginning to creep in and impact some players more than others. Ultimately, it left behind a massive void in an already limited squad that Xavi possessed.
The likes of De Jong, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, and Alejandro Balde were all simultaneously injured at one point. However, that list only continued to grow with issues regarding the fitness of the likes of Fermin Lopez, Inigo Martinez, Joao Cancelo, Joao Felix, and others.
Hansi Flick, on the other hand, has always had continuous issues such as this. De Jong’s return still seems complicated, Fermin Lopez is now out for around a month, Ansu Fati is still yet to return despite reportedly being close to doing so, and others such as Marc Bernal have only recently had a surgery that could keep them out for a long time irrespective of how they personally react to the unwanted occasion.
