This was supposed to be the week that Barcelona’s injury hell ended, with Sergio Aguero and Ousmane Dembele returning to training to ease Ronald Koeman’s woes up front.
Unfortunately, just as one problem began to resolve itself, another has appeared.
Ronald Araujo, the club’s one competent central defender so far this season, has picked up an injury on international duty with Uruguay.
Mundo Deportivo were the first to report the news, later confirmed by the club.
Las pruebas realizadas por los servicios médicos de la Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol han mostrado que Ronald Araujo tiene una lesión en los isquiotibiales del muslo derecho producida el pasado domingo durante el partido ante Argentina
Más info 👉 https://t.co/3Gye5matxN pic.twitter.com/8WwlRGDidz
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) October 12, 2021
It doesn’t sound too serious, but it’s a blow for the Blaugrana to lose a player just as he was starting to look settled alongside Gerard Pique at the back.
If that means more minutes for the shaky Eric Garcia, that can only be a bad thing for Koeman.
The worst part is the fixture list – Valencia, followed by Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League and then El Clasico.
If there was ever a stretch where they needed their defenders fit, this was it.
