Barcelona’s injury list is showing no sign of getting better ahead of El Clasico and perhaps their brightest hope, Jules Kounde, is growing slowly darker.
Ahead of their tie with Real Madrid, Barcelona are currently missing Memphis Depay, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Ronald Araujo, as well as the Frenchman. It leaves just Eric Garcia and Gerard Pique as natural options in the centre of defence against Inter and Real Madrid, although Marcos Alonso played there against Celta Vigo this weekend.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Kounde has been working hard to be fit for El Clasico after being injured on international duty with France. The initial diagnosis was set at three to four weeks, meaning Kounde would have had to be aiming to beat those three weeks to be back.
Already out of the Inter match, it looks increasingly unlikely that he will be able to make El Clasico. Barcelona would be unwise to force the issue if it is a major problem, as it could both rule him out of important games like Bayern Munich after El Clasico and even risk his World Cup if Kounde suffers a relapse.
