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Barcelona confirmed Monday that young right-back Andres Solano is to undergo surgery after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 22-year-old right-back, who only arrived at the club on loan from Atletico Madrid in October, suffered the injury in Barcelona B’s goalless draw with Prat on Sunday. First-team boss Ronald Koeman was spotted in the stands watching the match ahead of kick-off.
⚠️🔵🔴 Koeman repite en el Johan Cruyff y verá en directo el partido del Barça B ante el Prat #fcblive
Solano was taken off after just 16 minutes and now looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The defender was replaced by Igor Gomez who was also subsequently forced off with injury in the first half.
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Barca Injuries Pile Up
The right-back is the latest Barca player to be ruled out through injury and joins fellow reserve team defender Alejandro Balde on the sidelines. Balde was ruled out for six weeks after suffering an ankle injury in pre-season.
The first-team are also without some key players currently. Philippe Coutinho is out with a hamstring injury, while center-back Ronald Araujo has a similar problem and is not expected back until after the international break.
There has been some good news on the injury front though. First-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and French defender Samuel Umtiti have returned to training and are closing in on a return to action.
Right-Back an Issue for Barcelona
Solano’s injury will leave the reserve team short of options at right-back and means coach Francisco Javier García Pimienta may have to get creative when it comes to selecting his backline.
The position has also been a problem area for the first-team in recent seasons. Nelson Semedo was sold in the summer after failing to nail down the position following his move from Benfica.
Sergi Roberto, whose preferred position is in midfield, largely shared the position with Semedo but now faces real competition for his place from Sergino Dest. The USMNT star arrived in the summer from Ajax and has already made a big impression at the Camp Nou.
The 19-year-old has already made five appearances for this new club, featuring on both sides of the defense, and came in for praise from Koeman in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
First of all I am very happy with the signing of Sergiño Dest. He is a young player who has to adapt. He showed his quality against Madrid but we put Sergi Roberto on because he played very well at the start of the season. There is no reason to leave him out of the team. It is a good competition for both and both will have opportunities to show their qualities.
Dest looks like he has the potential to go and nail down the right-back spot at the Camp Nou. He has been handed the No. 2 shirt and has already admitted that he “wants to be like” Barca legend Dani Alaves, as reported by AS.
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