Barcelona have been dealt a double injury blow in midfield ahead of the season run-in with Frenkie de Jong and Pedri both set to miss next week’s crucial Champions League game against Napoli and the trip to Atlético Madrid in LaLiga.
Sources have told ESPN De Jong will be sidelined for around a month after Barça confirmed he sprained his ankle ligament in Sunday’s goalless draw against Athletic Club in LaLiga.
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Tests on Monday revealed Pedri is suffering from a thigh problem after he also failed to finish the game at San Mamés.
Given Pedri’s recent injury history, there is a reluctance for a timeframe to be put on his return to action, although he is not expected to feature again until at least April.
“Pedri started his recovery work on Monday with the only objective being to come back in top shape — not focused on a certain moment of a concrete game,” a source told ESPN.
De Jong and Pedri join Gavi on the sidelines, leaving Barça short in midfield at a key juncture of the campaign with the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16 tie against Napoli coming up.
The Blaugrana welcome the Italian champions to the Olympic Stadium on March 12 after a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Diego Maradona in the first leg last month.
Xavi Hernández’s side also have important games coming up in LaLiga as they look to seal a place in the top four and keep their flagging title hopes alive.
They host Mallorca on Friday and then travel to Atlético on March 17 before the international break as they attempt to cut the eight point gap between them and league leaders Real Madrid.
If Barça progress against Napoli, they would then have a potential Champions League quarterfinal at the start of April, with the second LaLiga Clásico of the season against Madrid scheduled for April 21 at the Bernabéu.
It’s the second time this season De Jong has sprained his ankle. He was out for almost two months between September and November with an injury to the same ankle.
For Pedri, it is the latest in a string of issues he has picked up since playing 52 games in his debut campaign with Barca in 2020-21 in addition to the European Championship and Olympic Games with Spain.
The former Las Palmas midfielder missed 41 games for club and country in 2021-22, mainly due to a hamstring injury which kept him out for several months.
He also missed 15 games in the second half of last season with another hamstring problem which he picked up in the Europa League tie against Manchester United.
Earlier this season, he was out for two-and-a-half months with a quadriceps problem, while another muscle issue sidelined him for three weeks at the turn of the year.
With Gavi also out for the season with an ACL tear, Xavi called up youngsters Marc Casadó and Pau Prim to train with the first team on Monday.
Oriol Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Ilkay Gündogan and Fermín López are the remaining fit central midfielders in the squad, while centre-back Andreas Christensen has also been deployed in a more advanced position in recent weeks.
