The victory over Celta Vigo brought great joy to fans of FC Barcelona, given that the victory was a particularly inspired comeback from 2-0 down to ending the game as 3-2 victors.
However, while the game brought great belief and took Barcelona to the top of La Liga temporarily, there is a certain hindrance that must be talked about.
Around the 35th minute mark, Dutch midfielder and Barcelona captain Frenkie De Jong had to be taken off the field due to physical discomfort, which has now been confirmed to be an injury to the ankle, and his availability for Barcelona is now unclear for at least several weeks.
Speculated to be sidelined until November at the moment, De Jong will miss a total of seven matches for FC Barcelona including four clashes at home against Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Shakhtar Donetsk (UCL), and Real Madrid. He will also miss out on three away games against Mallorca, FC Porto (UCL), and Granada.
However, as is being highlighted by Spanish outlet SPORT, Barcelona does possess a good depth of quality players that could perhaps prove to be essential for Xavi Hernandez. To replace De Jong’s contributions to the team, however, will not be an easy task.
The midfield options
Among the many names available for deployment in the midfield, the primary ones to take into account are those of Gavi (19 years), Fermin Lopez (20 years), Ilkay Gundogan (32 years), Oriol Romeu (32 years), and Sergi Roberto (31 years).
The Joaos
Structurally speaking, however, both the new Joaos, Cancelo, and Felix, are also capable of operating within the vicinity of the midfield to offer numerical and possessional advantages. However, the primary candidates to directly replace De Jong lie in the names mentioned previously.
The Dutchman provided Xavi’s Barcelona not just offensive creativity, but also defensive rigidity. His fluid play style and almost effortless positional awareness were key to the manager’s tactics for La Blaugrana.
Midfield injury woes continue
With Pedri also still out injured until mid-late October, Barcelona, and Xavi are now forced to play outside of their comfort zone. SPORT believes that out of the names mentioned, it will perhaps be Gavi who ends up taking De Jong’s slot in the team just as he took his place as the substitute during the clash against Celta Vigo.
It will be interesting to see how Xavi ends up choosing his next lineup until two of his most important midfielders make their return. Barcelona returns to action on Tuesday, when they visit Mallorca for their upcoming La Liga clash.
