‘We have too many injuries’ – Barcelona manager Hansi Flick gives update on Pedri | OneFootball

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has said he will speaking with their medical staff about their injury crisis, after two more issues were added to his headache on Tuesday night. The Blaugrana currently have six players out of action, with only one set for an imminent return.

The next player back will be Robert Lewandowski, who is expected to play with a mask after an eye socket fracture suffered on Saturday. Following him will be Gavi, but the young midfielder is unlikely to feature much, having not played since August. Against Atletico Madrid, Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde both picked up hamstring injuries which will keep them out until April. Flick admitted that he had little information just after the Atletico match.

“They’re out, I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with them. The players gave it their all, it was incredible. They gave more than 100% and that’s fantastic. The fans left happy. Disappointed too, but they saw a great team and that’s fantastic.”

Hansi Flick gives update on Pedri status

Meanwhile Pedri Gonzalez has only just come back from injury. In his third game back, and first start back, he played 90 minutes, and finished the game looking exhausted. Barely able to move, Flick did rule out an injury for the Canary Islander, who they were unable to bring off in the final 20 minutes after using up all of their substitution windows.

“I’m glad it didn’t happen. We needed Pedri on the pitch and we took a risk with him. Nothing happened, he’s fine.”

“We have to go step by step, recover, because it’s a game every three or four days now, it’s not easy. We have to recover, recover, recover. Of course it’s not easy, I’m not happy about the injuries. We paid a lot today. It’s not good.”

Flick on Barcelona injury issues

More generally on Barcelona’s injury problems, Flick said he would be discussing the matter with the club’s medical staff. Last week Frenkie de Jong was ruled out for a month.

“We have two more injuries, which is bad news. I’m not happy about these injuries; we have several players injured, and that’s not good. We’ll have to talk. Things need to improve. We need to talk to the doctors and the fitness staff about how to prevent three players from getting injured in a single week.”

The absences of de Jong, Kounde and Balde are added to an injury list that includes Gavi and Andreas Christensen. It leaves the Blaugrana with just five midfielders and five defenders available for the time being.