Barcelona are still on level terms with Athletic Club at San Mames in their MD27 clash, but things have gone from bad to worse on the injury front, as a second key player has been forced to come off with a problem.
Frenkie de Jong looked to badly twist his ankle in the opening stages in Bilbao, which caused him to be substituted. Now, with half time approaching, Pedri has also been taken off by Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez after appearing to pull up with a suspected hamstring injury.
43' Pedri is down injured, and it appears to be serious.
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 3, 2024
The 21-year-old has had rotten luck with injuries over the last couple of years, and it now looks to have continued. He left the field at San Mames in a bad way, looking visibly emotional.
45' Pedri is in tears.
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 3, 2024
With the second leg of their Champions League last 16 with Napoli only nine days away, Barcelona won’t be able to count upon de Jong and Pedri, which is a massive blow to their chances of progression. Javi Miguel has reported that the latter is undoubtedly ruled out, while the Dutch midfielder is likely to be the same.
🚨 JUST IN: The injuries suffered by De Jong and Pedri look very bad. Everything indicates that the Dutchman has a significant sprain in his right ankle, and the Canarian has relapsed with another injury in his right hamstring. Frenkie has it very difficult to get to the Napoli… pic.twitter.com/7k1S6xbZN6
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 3, 2024
