BarcelonaThe point scored in San Mamés has been very expensive for Barça, as they have run out of starting players to play against Getafe next Sunday. In addition to Eric Garcia, sent off with a direct red card to cut a clear chance to score, Gerard Piqué will also not be available. The second Barça captain had to leave the pitch in the first half due to an injury to the sole of his left leg. It’s not serious, but you’ll have to rest for about a fortnight. With the question of whether Óscar Mingueza will be able to be discharged before the weekend, Ronald Koeman will be forced to play from the start with Ronald Araujo and Clément Lenglet.
The medical services pulled their hair out with the injury of Gerard Piqué, who had to ask for a change when only half an hour of the match had been played. In one leap, he noticed discomfort in the twin and quickly put his hand on it. He tried to follow, but could not. He stretched out on the grass with a gesture of disapproval and had to cede his place to Ronald Araujo.
The injury was to his left leg. Interestingly, however, Piqué had been dragging discomfort on his other leg for a few days. More specifically, since the premiere in the League against the Royal Society, the previous Sunday. “It simply came to my notice then. He trained yesterday [dissabte] and he had no discomfort, ”Koeman told the post-match press conference against Athletic Club.
Piqué, against Real Sociedad, was able to finish the game despite the discomfort he noticed in the final stretch of the match. The center, however, dragged the pain throughout the week. Initially, the club had advised the footballer to rest for the weekend, but the doctors and the coach gave his approval to travel to Bilbao with the rest of his teammates. However, his twin did not withstand the effort of a very demanding match. This Sunday, in Barcelona, the tests have confirmed that it is an elongation to the sun. “It’s not very serious,” Koeman said.
Barça have not confirmed their time off, although doctors, in the case of an elongation – and not a muscle fracture – estimate that only about fifteen days of recovery will be needed. In this sense, the calendar has been a great ally of the Barcelona center, as after the match against Getafe comes the halt of national teams. This means that, in the second week of September, he should be 100% ready to prepare for the match against Sevilla on the fourth day of the League.
Eric Garcia, who had a hard-to-forget match in San Mamés, will also not be available for the match at the Camp Nou. Aside from the expulsion, to avoid a clear chance to score from Nico Williams in stoppage time, the information reached him, a few minutes before he started rolling the ball, that his maternal father had died. “He is a great professional. We knew it before we started and yet he played a great game. Too bad he lost the last ball and was forced to commit the foul that led to his expulsion, “said Koeman.
Of the five central defenders in the squad, only two will be able to play against Getafe on Sunday. Apart from Piqué and Eric, Óscar Mingueza is also not available. However, the young footballer from the youth team, who was injured in the Tokyo Games, was already part of the training with his teammates last week, and the medical services did not rule out at all that he could arrive in time to be available on weekends. In any case, if he were discharged he would not play at the start, but would be on the bench.
Doubts with Lenglet
Between Lenglet and Araujo, who will start at the Camp Nou on Sunday, Koeman has already made it clear that he has more confidence in the Uruguayan, a footballer who has more difficulty with the ball but is physically lush. In San Mamés, for example, he saved a goal on the line in an acrobatic action, and also scored one, from Chile, which did not go on the scoreboard for a previous foul. On the other hand, Lenglet lost points. The French player, a starter in the last two seasons at the center of the defense, has dropped his performance and has been the fourth or fifth center of the team. In the first two league games he has only played five minutes, the last of the premiere against Real Sociedad. In fact, Barça had put it in the shop window to sell or give it away this summer, but it did not carry out any operation. Now, forced by the situation, he will be a starter.
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