FC Barcelona have been facing quite a turbulent phase in their season at the moment, with an ongoing injury crisis. A handful of key players have picked up an injury or face physical difficulties to some extent. With a season-defining El Clasico on the horizon, here is how the 5 key players currently sidelined fare when it comes to their respective recoveries relative to the game against Real Madrid:
Ronald Araujo:
Barcelona’s primary center back as well as their main contingency for the potential threat that Vinicius Jr. imposes every time the Catalans face the side from Madrid. Ronald Araujo missed the international break with his Uruguayan National team as he was housing an adductor injury following the game against Real Madrid in their La Liga Santander clash.
Out of all 5 players in question, Araujo’s participation in the Copa Del Ray semi-final remains the most guaranteed.
Status for El Clasico: Available
Ousmane Dembele:
With the French winger having been injured against Girona during a La Liga game in January, the player has since been indefinitely unavailable. Almost two months have gone since Dembele was last available for deployment within the Barcelona squad, and recent updates have provided positive news.
The player continues his recovery thoroughly and even on days off for most players. Behind-the-scenes footage and images confirm the player is continuing his recovery both off the field and on the grass as well at this moment in time. While his participation remains unlikely, there exists a slight chance that the player might just make a surprise return against Real Madrid.
Status for El Clasico: Doubt
Frenkie De Jong:
De Jong, similar to Araujo, picked up an initial discomfort following the 2-1 victory over Real Madrid. The Dutchman was later confirmed to have an issue with his hamstring following further medical examination and has since been stated to be working on his recovery, missing out on traveling with the Dutch National team for their UEFA Euro qualifiers.
The player’s expected date of return is set to a time that would see the midfielder miss out on El Clasico, but positive reports have emerged stating the player is working hard to ensure he cuts down on his overall time of recovery and beat his expected date of return to be able to play against Real Madrid.
Status for El Clasico: Doubt
Pedri:
The young gem from the Canary Islands was expected to have been back in action for the Blaugrana for quite a while now. The injury he picked up while playing against Manchester United in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League tie saw the player be out for an expected duration of one month. Since then, however, right before his return in El Clasico when the player looked fit and ready to be deployed, a major setup hit the youngster and ended up proving worrisome.
The player has since been deemed unavailable for selection for a further month or so, since the recovery process is taking much longer than initially expected. The player will most certainly miss El Clasico and a few challenges afterwards as well.
Status for El Clasico: Unavailable
Andreas Christensen:
The latest of casualties among those sidelined, Andreas Christensen was the only Barcelona player out of the five who did not pick up an injury while playing for the club. Upon his call-up to play for the Danish National team in their UEFA Euro qualifiers, the defender was injured 18 minutes into his first game of the international break against Finland.
The Danish defender has now been ruled out for almost a month or longer upon medical assessment and will indefinitely miss the El Clasico on 5th April 2023. Reports have emerged stating that Barcelona are discontent with his national team as well, as they believe Christensen was forced to play despite having shown signs of lingering muscular discomfort on prior occasions.
Status for El Clasico: Unavailable
