Barcelona: Midfield injuries present a golden chance to Rafinha and Arthur

By Benjamin Barkworth | Jul 30, 2018

Barcelona's new player Brazilian midfielder Arthur Henrique Ramos de Oliveira Melo poses during his official presentation at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, on July 12, 2018. - Barcelona confirmed the arrival of Brazilian new recruit Arthur from Brazilian outfit Gremio on a 31 million euros ($37 million) deal. The Spanish champions will pay an extra 9 million in bonuses in the six-year deal struck with the Brazilians for the midfielder. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP) (Photo credit should read PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images) /

The two Brazilians could be seeing a lot of first-team opportunities over the next few months.

Barcelona started their pre-season with a win against Tottenham in the International Champions Cup. There were a number of positives to take from the match as the team played well collectively and the youngsters took advantage of the opportunity to impress. However, it wasn’t the perfect start to the season’s preparations because Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes both picked up hamstring injuries.

It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Suarez should be out for a few weeks while Gomes is slightly longer at two months. The Portuguese was likely to leave the club this summer prior to the injury; Suarez was fighting for a first-team place, though. These add to a couple of injuries in the midfield area for Barcelona because Carles Alena and Sergi Samper are also out.

The start of the season is only a few weeks away and the majority of the senior players haven’t returned yet because they are still recovering from the World Cup. Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Philippe Coutinho are likely to be the main options for midfield. This is assuming that Ernesto Valverde opts to use Coutinho as a midfielder rather than further forward and utilises the 4-3-3 formation that Barcelona set up in against Tottenham.

More from Analysis

All three of those players mentioned reached the knockout rounds of the World Cup and Rakitic went all the way to the final. Therefore, it may take a while for them to be fully fit. This could influence Valverde to play some of his other players, and the dwindling amount of senior midfielders available presents a big opportunity for Rafinha and Arthur.

This is naturally important for both, but even more so for Rafinha because he was on his way out of the club and he now has a major chance to stake a claim for a starting place. They both impressed against Spurs, so more of the same against Roma and Milan could see them rewarded with starts in the Spanish Super Cup as well as the opening league games. Sergi Roberto is suspended for the Super Cup, so the midfield is severely weakened for that match.

dark. Next. Arthur may just be the successor to Xavi at Barcelona

Allowing these players to start in the opening games could be pivotal to Barcelona’s season because it ensures the senior players aren’t brought back in to competitive matches too quickly. The World Cup has reduced the holidays of the top players, so this will likely catch up to them as fatigue during the season. Therefore, reducing their minutes wherever possible is beneficial in keeping them fresh and ensuring the club are able to compete on all fronts.