Barcelona receive good news on Gavi injury blow | OneFootball

The only negative suffered by Barcelona during Sunday’s 5-0 victory at Elche was the first half injury suffered by Gavi. The 22-year-old was replaced on 44 minutes after appearing to hurt his knee, and this has prompted medical tests to take place in order for the Catalans to understand the severity of the issue.

Barcelona have feared the worst with Gavi, especially as the blow he sustained was in the same knee that he suffered a torn ACL and damaged meniscus when playing for Spain in 2023 – an injury that ultimately kept him out for a total of 18 months, spread across two spells.

Frenkie de Jong is already out, Marc Casado is not in Hansi Flick’s plans, while Rodri is not up to speed after arriving from Manchester City last week, so Gavi cannot afford Gavi to be out long-term. Fortunately, this will not be the case, with Barcelona confirming in an official medical report that the 2026 World Cup winner has only suffered bruising, and thus, he could be able to return to action later this week.

Gavi unlikely to be risked against Athletic Club

It is excellent news for Barcelona that Gavi has suffered an injury, and while he will not be out for very long at all, it would be a surprise if he was risked when Athletic Club arrive at the Spotify Camp Nou on Thursday for the re-arranged Matchday 1 clash. Thus, Flick would only have Pedri and Marc Bernal available as starters, although Xavi Espart or Eric Garcia could be used there if required, which would open the door for Jules Kounde, Joao Cancelo or Alejandro Balde to be called up to start.

Depending on how Gavi evolves over the next few days, he could be named in Flick’s squad to face Rayo Vallecano next Monday. However, it is clear that Barcelona will not take any risks with him, nor they should.