“We have to mentally rebuild Ansu Fati”

Photo: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com

Who would have thought that a cup defeat by Athletico Bilbao (2-3) would only be the second worst thing that could have happened to FC Barcelona last Thursday? The Catalans were much more concerned about hopeful Ansu Fati’s renewed injury. After the diagnosis, the coach denies any blame from himself and the club.

“It’s a difficult situation,” Xavi admitted of his player ahead of the league game against Alaves. “There was a meeting with his family, on Monday there will be a meeting with Ansu, the family and the doctors.”

As the club previously reported, Fati injured his left thigh against Bilbao. An injury that slowed him down in November last year.

According to Xavi, the 19-year-old’s head is just as big a construction site as the injured thigh: “He’s depressed, just like us. We have to mentally rebuild him. We’ll try to come up with a very good plan so that he doesn’t move again injured.”

Photo: Vitalii Vitleo / Shutterstock.com

With these words, however, the coach in no way implied that all necessary measures had not been taken to prevent Fati from being injured again.

“This setback is very bad for me. We were very careful with it. It’s part of football, part of the game. These are situations that you can’t control,” said Xavi. The association currently assumes that Ansu Fati will probably be absent for at least two to three months.