The crisis of injuries in Barcelona only increased. The club announced on Friday that Brazilian winger Raphinha and goalkeeper Joan Garcia will be out of action because of injuries.
Raphinha will be absent approximately three weeks due to a hamstring problem. Garcia, however, will have a surgery on a ruptured meniscus on his left knee, which will put him out of action over a span of four to six weeks based on his healing.
These losses are on top of a rather lengthy list of injuries among the Catalan team. Midfielder Gavi has up to five months off surgery on his knee and Fermin Lopez is also unavailable. The sole consolation news: young talents, Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde will be back this weekend.
Barcelo is now positioned at the second position in the LaLiga, only two points behind Real Madrid, and they are seeking to continue their positive momentum under Hansi Flick. This week, they welcome Real Sociedad on Sunday in addition to playing Paris Saint-Germain in the champions league on Wednesday.
Garcia is also supposed to be replaced by Wojciech Szczesny, as the first choice keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is injured, and Wojciech Szczesny is expected to take up the position. Garcia had featured in all the matches this season thus his absence is a big setback to the invincible side.
Raphinha was injured in the 1-1 draw against Real Oviedo when Barcelona had to withdraw Raphinha in the 66th minute. The next day he did not attend any training, instead doing individual gym work. The Brazilian player who has already scored three times and had two assists in seven matches this season will be expected to be out of the next three matches including the decisive matches against Real Sociedad, PSG and Sevilla.
Flick will also be forced to do without some of his key players as Barcelona face a demanding stretch of matches, which will put the depth of the squad to the test due to the accumulating injuries.
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