Not only are Barcelona in danger of another early UEFA Champions League elimination, but the Spanish giants have lost another two talented players to injuries on the back of their 1-0 loss to Inter Milan.
The Blaugrana traveled to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Tuesday having lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich earlier last month, and sadly for the visitors, this game didn't fare any better. Despite dominating the possession, Xavi's men struggled to break down the Italians and ended up losing 1-0 thanks to a lovely Hakan Çalhanoğlu goal.
And as a result, the Catalan giants find themselves third in the table with only one win out of three (L2), sitting six points behind leaders Bayern Munich and three behind the second-placed Nerazzurri. Given that their next two UEFA Champions League games are against the Serie A and Bundesliga giants, Barcelona face the risk of dropping down to the UEFA Europa League for the second season running.
And to make things even worse, the Liga heavyweights have suffered two injuries that will complicate the matter. The first was the loss of Andreas Christensen, which happened during yesterday's match, as the Danish center-back suffered a sprained ankle. This was a huge blow as the Catalans are already short on defenders as both Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo are out injured.
The club did not reveal a return date for Christensen but the former Chelsea man could be out for a month, meaning he will miss a number of key games.
Now, another Camp Nou ace has been sidelined with injury. That man is none other than Franck Kessie, the Ivorian midfielder who came on as a late sub in the defeat to Inter. Despite featuring in that game, the former AC Milan star picked up an adductor issue during a training session the following day.
"The first team player Franck Kessie has a strained adductor muscle in his right thigh. He is ruled out and his recovery will dictate his return. The injury occurred in training on Wednesday morning at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper," Barcelona revealed in their official statement.
Similar to the Christensen situation, no time frame was named for his recovery. While this appears to be a minor issue, the midfielder could miss up to two weeks of action, which is a huge blow. The Blaugrana will face Real Madrid in El Clasico and Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League in the next fortnight and thus could be without both Kessie and Christensen for this tricky period.
The aforementioned pair now join Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Hector Bellerin, Frenkie de Jong, and Memphis Depay on the Camp Nou treatment table.
