Barcelona's Crisis Deepens: Raphinha's Injury Woes

FC Barcelona's list of injured players just keeps getting bigger and bigger as the Champions League clash against Napoli draws closer. In their latest La Liga clash against Mallorca, The Catalan Giants lost another player to injury.

It was Raphinha this time who suffered an ankle injury. Unsurprisingly, Raphinha was playing as a midfielder against Los Piratas as he was covering for his injured teammates, Pedri and de Jong. Who knew that covering for the injured would land him in the hospital?

The act occurred in the 20th minute as Mallorca defender Copete stepped on the Brazilian inside the box. Initially, the referee didn't call for a penalty, but a VAR review was enough to correct the mistake. Gündoğan took the penalty, but his bad finish ended up getting saved by the keeper.

Raphinha tried to continue for the next 17 minutes, but was evidently struggling. Then, in the 37th minute, he signaled the bench for a change. Fermín took his place and played a decent game in the winger's stead.

The Injury's Seriousness

Xavi is optimistic and says that it was just a blow. Raphinha might be available for the Naples clash, but we can't be sure until the tests are done. At the moment, FC Barcelona has seven players in the hospital.

The list includes Alejandro Balde, Marcos Alonso, Gavi, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres and Raphinha. Almost all the major players of the team are in the hospital, as arguably the most important clash of the season draws near.

Raphinha might steer clear before the 2nd leg against Napoli, but that still leaves six players in the infirmary. Ferran Torres is a hopeful as the Spanish winger's date of return is expected to be March 11.

Marcos Alonso will narrowly miss the clash as he might return by March 15. Pedri and de Jong aren't expected to reinstate their position till the next month. Unfortunately, the season is already over for Gavi and Alejandro Balde.