Barcelona suffers injury blow

Barcelona have announced that Kounde suffered a distal injury to the biceps femoris in his left thigh against Inter.

The Catalan side did not indicate a timetable for his recovery, although several media reports suggest that the Frenchman will miss the second leg of the Champions League and the ‘Clasico’ in La Liga.

Barcelona defender Kounde is suffering from a distal injury to the biceps femoris in his left thigh, the club said on Thursday, without specifying the expected recovery time.

“Tests carried out this morning showed that first-team player Jules Kounde has a distal injury to the biceps femoris in his left thigh. His return to training with the team will be decided depending on his progress,” the club said.

The France international picked up an injury late in the first half of Wednesday’s 3-3 Champions League semi-final first leg tie between Barca and Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico Lluís Companys and was replaced in the 42nd minute by Eric Garcia.

This injury comes at a decisive moment in the season, as the blaugranas will visit the Giuseppe Meazza next Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals and on Sunday 11 May they will host Real Madrid in a duel that could decide the LaLiga EA Sports title, as they are four points clear of Los Blancos at the top with five games to go.

Kounde’s absence is a major setback for coach Hansi Flick, as the defender is the Barcelona player with the most minutes (4,505), appearances (55) and starts (51) this season.

The Azulgrana side do not have a natural replacement at right-back to convince the coach, who has recently opted to reinstate centre-back Eric Garcia in that position on the few occasions when the Frenchman has needed a rest. As a result, he is the player who is the main favourite to take over the position.

Barcelona are awaiting the progress of left-back Alejandro Balde, who is recovering from a distal injury to the biceps femoris in his left thigh sustained on 12 April. The Catalan player’s return would give Flick the option of moving his replacement, Gerard Martin, to the right wing. Other alternatives for the coach are full-back Hector Fort or moving one of the available centre-backs, such as Ronald Araujo, who has played in that role in previous years.