One of FC Barcelona’s star men, midfielder Pedri, is a doubt for Sunday’s La Liga clash at Villarreal CF on Sunday. Due to what he is being decribed as muscular overload, he was absent from group training today.
Basically it sounds like Pedri has been overworked lately, and perhaps manager Hansi Flick needs to manage his minutes more. It doesn’t sound like anything more serious than that.
FC Barcelona at Villarreal FYIs
Kickoff: Sun. Sept 15 4:15 CET, El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain
Barca Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
La Liga Standing, Form: Villarreal 3rd, 35 pts, WWWWW FC Barcelona 1st, 43 pts, WWWWW
Google Result Probability: Villarreal 26% Draw 21% FC Barcelona 53%
FC Barcelona Team News
It certainly makes perfect sense though, as Barcelona are still alive in all the major competitions, it’s the season for fixture overload and Pedri is one of their main key guys. Elsewhere Ronald Araujo remains away for personal reasons while Gavi (knee) and Dani Olmo (shoulder) remain out as longer-term injury absentees.
That’s all from the Barca side, but Villarreal have a very long absentee list.
Pape Gueye (Senegal) and Ilias Akhomach (Morocco) have now departed for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Thomas Partey (muscular problem), Gerard Moreno (another muscular injury) and Santiago Mourino (a muscle issue as well), Willy Kambwala (hamstring), Ramon Terrats (also a hamstring), Logan Costa and Pau Cabanes (both have knee injuries) are all ruled out of this one.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.