FC Barcelona will return to action a week from tomorrow when they’ll visit Rayo Vallecano for a La Liga fixture. The Catalan Club will enter the match sitting third in the table, four points behind league leading Girona and two behind arch-rivals Real Madrid. Blaugranes boss Xavi Hernandez will have a trio of injury concerns for this one, and they come in form of Frenkie de Jong, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto.
Let’s take a look at who could feature next weekend, and who might still miss out.
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong
The Dutchman and Manchester United 2022 summer transfer window obsession has been out since late September with an ankle sprain. He has missed 10 matches, but should be back once this international break is over.
He could feature off the bench next time out, as he gets slowly eased back into the starting XI.
Goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Ter Stegen pulled out of international duty with Germany due to “acute back pain” and has since returned to Catalonia for re-assessment. It remains to be seen how serious or hopefully, not serious his back injury is.
Defender Sergi Roberto
The club captain has missed six matches and counting due to an unspecified muscle injury. Not much else has been disclosed, and there has been no timetable set for his return.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager 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.”
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