Barca News
Very bad news for Barça in San Mamés . To the goalless draw achieved against an Athletic team full of substitutes and still euphoric about qualifying for the Copa del Rey final , the Blaugrana added two very important injuries to those they have already accumulated this season. Pedri suffered a muscle tear again and De Jong sprained the same ankle injured in Vigo months ago. Two casualties that come at a very bad time, one week before the visit of Napoli in the Champions League .
Xavi has never tired of praising the contribution of two midfielders who play the football that the coach seeks for his team, although Pedri ‘s recurring physical problems are preventing him from finding the necessary continuity to exploit all his talent. Furthermore, Frenkie is not having any luck with injuries in a season in which he had to defend the title won in the previous one.
Barça, then, is now forced to compete without them, a setback that, however, seems more problematic in terms of the game than in terms of results. And, although it may seem otherwise, the team has survived without them. In fact, in only eight games have both of them been absent simultaneously: five in the League and three in the Champions League . His teammates knew how to minimize his absence by winning five, drawing two and only losing one, the Montjuïc league classic . The ties were away (Mallorca and Granada) and the rest (Porto, 0-1, Shakhtar 2-1, Sevilla 1-0, Athletic, 1-0 and Almería, 3-2) ended with a culé victory.
If we look, however, at the team dynamics when they have been together on the pitch, the numbers are worse. This 23-24 season they have met in twenty matches , with a balance of ten wins, six draws and four losses. That is, they have won the same games that they have failed to win.
If we look back, these two players, according to data from ‘Transfermarkt’, have played together 117 times (7,727 minutes), have won 73 games, tied 23 and lost 21. The most surprising thing is that, in all this time, only They have both been the protagonists of a goal : it happened three years ago, on January 6, 2021, in a San Mamés without an audience in the stands . Pedri scored 1-1 after fourteen minutes thanks to an assist from De Jong.
Source: Sport
