Barcelona have been very unlucky with injury issues so far this season, having had multiple key first team players suffer various problems. Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski are already out, and Jules Kounde was the latest to suffer an injury, after being forced off against Granada on Sunday.
Kounde suffered discomfort in his left knee towards the end of the first half at Nuevo Los Carmenes, and had to be replaced by Ronald Araujo. Following the match, Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez tried to play down fears of a serious issue for the defender, but he has been forced to withdraw from international duty, as per MD.
Kounde had been named in Didier Deschamps’ squad for France’s matches against the Netherlands and Scotland, but he has now been replaced by Chelsea’s Axel Disasi.
Barcelona will carry out further tests over the next 24 hours to determine the extent of Kounde’s injury, and they will be desperate for it not to be serious, especially with El Clasico on the horizon.
