While Barcelona did walk away with a point against an in-form Athletic Club, the post-match talk wasn’t around their performance but around the injuries they suffered. That was because the La Liga giants have to replace both Pedri and Frenkie de Jong before the end of the first half. Things became even worse when Xavi Hernandez revealed, in his post-match interview, that the two men could be out for more than a month.
That doesn’t bode well for the La Liga giants as they’re in the midst of a serious injury crisis with Ferran Torres, Gavi, Marcos Alonso and Alejandro Balde all out injured. They’re now joined by De Jong and Pedri which does leave Barcelona operating with a bare-bones squad. So much so, that Xavi has been forced to use teenagers from the youth academy with the likes of Pau Gubarsi, Hector Fort, Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal all playing big roles.
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Pedri Injury: 21-year-old star to be back in action for El Clasico
However, reports have indicated that Barcelona have received a massive boost as the latest medical reports have revealed that Pedri’s injury is not as serious as initially feared. The club believed that the midfielder would have missed at least two months of action because of what they believed was a recurrence of the youngster’s previous injury. That, however, isn’t the case as Mundo Deportivo have reported that the 21-year-old could be back in time for the club’s El Clasico clash.
The Catalan giants face Real Madrid on the 21st of April and Barcelona are now confident that Pedri will be fit in time to face the Los Blancos. However, even then, the club aren’t prepared to rush him as the Spaniard will likely play a big role in Spain’s Euro 2024 tournament. The quadrennial tournament takes place at the end of the season and thus the report has indicated that Barcelona are wary of rushing the 21-year-old back fast.