FC Barcelona winger out injured for a month

FC Barcelona’s injury situation never lets up, does it? Despite putting in a good shift against Sevilla, Brazilian winger Raphinha went down in the 37th minute with what appeared to a right hamstring injury. This morning, this has been confirmed. Raphinha has indeed been ruled out for around a month with a tear in the right biceps femoris. This is a blow to Xavi’s squad, but not one they can’t handle for now.

This puts his status for El Clásico on  October 29th into doubt, of course. He’ll be joining Pedri and Frenkie de Jong with injuries, although Pedri may be back in time for the Clásico. For Raphinha, however, it’s cutting it close. Hopefully, he can return, as he’s sure to wreak havoc against that Real Madrid defense should he play.

This should probably open up minutes for the likes of Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, and Fermín López. Fermín especially was tremendous against Sevilla when he came on for the downed Brazilian. However, this raises more issues, as Raphinha has been playing in the midfield recently, and Barça’s midfield depth is now even more strained. Luckily, this is the one area where the Catalans are well covered.

There has been talk of bringing Pedri back a bit sooner than expected due to these later injuries, but Xavi tried to downplay those rumors, saying rightly that Barça have alternatives like Fermín or even Sergi Roberto.

It’s been a high-and-low year so far for Raphinha, from picking up a red card in the first match of the season to looking very impressive against Real Betis and Royal Antwerp. He’s begun to find his role in more central areas, too, playing as an offensive 8 in the last few games. Hopefully, his recovery will go well and he’ll be back on the pitch sooner rather than later.