Barcelona confirm injury blow ahead huge Europa League clash with Man Utd
Sergio Busquets, a midfielder for Barcelona, has suffered ligament damage in his ankle and is a major doubt to face Manchester United in the Europa League.
The veteran midfielder limped out of Sunday’s La Liga victory against Sevilla at Camp Nou after just 10 minutes.
Now that the severity of his injury has been confirmed, he is expected to miss several weeks of action for the Blaugrana.
Xavi is already at odds with the club’s plans to replace Busquets, whose contract expires in June, at the conclusion of the season.
Joan Laporta, the president of FC Barcelona, has a close relationship with Ruben Neves’ agent, Jorge Mendes, and is therefore pushing for the club to sign Ruben Neves.
However, Xavi prefers Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi, whereas the club’s sporting directorate believes Frenkie de Jong can fulfill the role and does not believe a new signing is necessary.
The Catalan club is concerned not only about how they will replace Busquets at the end of the season, but also how they will reshuffle their midfielder in the near future. The severity of his injury is expected to keep him out of action for between two and three weeks.
A brief statement issued by the club read: “Tests carried out this morning have revealed that Sergio Busquets has a lateral collateral ligament sprain in his left ankle. He is out and his recovery will determine his availability.”
On 16 February, Barcelona will host Manchester United before traveling to Old Trafford the following week. Busquets is almost certain to miss the first leg, and his participation in the second is also in serious doubt; forward Ousmane Dembele’s participation in both games is also in serious doubt.
This upcoming weekend, the 34-year-old will also miss Xavi’s side’s La Liga road trip to Villarreal and the home league match against Cadiz. Busquets is expected to return to action before the Blaugrana’s trip to Almeria at the end of February.
Barca leads Real Madrid by eight points in La Liga with a remarkable 53 points after 20 matches. This season has been more difficult for them in Europe, as they were eliminated from the Champions League group stage after collecting just one point in four games against Bayern Munich and Inter.
Barcelona confirm injury blow ahead huge Europa League clash with Man Utd
