GETTY Frenkie de Jong and Gavi during Barca's friendly with Girona
Barcelona has been hit by injuries to midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Gavi ahead of the start of the new 2021-22 La Liga campaign. Both players suffered injuries in the team’s pre-season friendly defeat at Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.
The Catalan giants offered an update on the duo in a statement on the club’s official website. The update read, “Frenkie de Jong has pulled the inner gastrocnemius muscle in his right leg and is hence unavailable until he recovers from the injury. Meanwhile, Gavi has fractured his right jaw and is also side-lined.”
De Jong is a crucial player for Barcelona and the club will be hoping his injury is not too serious and does not rule him out of the start of the new campaign. The Catalan giants kick off the 2021-22 season on August 15 against Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Gavi is a hot prospect and yet another talented player to have emerged from the club’s famed La Masia academy. The teenager has caught the eye in pre-season, featuring in all four friendlies so far under Ronald Koeman.
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De Jong To Miss Two Weeks?
Barca has not revealed how much time the two players are expected to miss but early reports indicate De Jong will not be out for too long. Javi Miguel at Diario AS reports the Netherlands international may just miss 1-2 weeks.
It’s thought that De Jong will sit out Saturday’s final pre-season friendly against Juventus in the Joan Gamper Trophy match at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. However, the club is hopeful he will be fit for the season opener at home to La Real.
The news on Gavi is much less positive. The youngster could be out for 4-5 weeks which will be a blow to the player and the club after some impressive performances in Barca’s pre-season friendlies.
The 16-year-old Gavi 🆚 Stuttgart!
Koeman Happy Despite Defeat
The two injuries came during Barca’s only defeat so far in pre-season. The team has enjoyed comfortable wins over Nastic, Girona, and Stuttgart but slipped to a 2-1 loss at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.
Coach Ronald Koeman offered his thoughts on the game after the full-time whistle and admitted he was happy with his team’s performance despite overseeing a defeat, as reported by Marca.
“It’s the best thing for us because we’re in pre-season but we’ve found an opponent who played with high intensity,” Koeman said. “It was a good session and we’ve had to run a lot. Both teams pressed a lot and played at a high tempo. It was perfect, but I don’t like to lose. I’m happy after this week.”
Koeman switched to a 3-5-2 formation during the match but was not giving much away regarding whether he will stick with the same tactics at the start of the season.
“It’s important to change system. I think this gave us a lot last season, and all of the data tells us that this was our best formation,” he added. “We have to be able to go back to it and to change in the middle of a game. That isn’t to say that it will be our regular setup.”
Barca’s final friendly is against Juventus on Saturday and could see Lionel Messi feature, according to Sport’s Adria Fernandez. The club is hoping to announce his renewal before the match which could allow the Argentine to give the captain’s customary pre-match speech to fans.
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