Barcelona (AP) – After the round of 16 in the Spanish Cup, FC Barcelona also has to complain about another injury to young professional Ansu Fati.
According to the club, the 19-year-old suffered an injury to his left thigh in the 2: 3 (1: 1, 2: 2) defeat after extra time at Athletic Bilbao. Further investigations should shed light on the severity of the injury, the Catalans said in a statement. Fati came on as a substitute in the 61st minute and had to be substituted off again in the 96th minute of extra time.
“He was very crushed,” Barça coach Xavi Hernández said of the top talent. Fati had already had to take a longer break at the end of last year due to problems with his thigh. While the defending champions were eliminated early from the cup, Real Madrid just avoided embarrassment and reached the quarter-finals with a 2-1 (0-0, 0-0) after extra time against FC Elche.
“It’s a difficult day,” admitted Xavi, speaking of “difficult times” that the club is going through. In the league, the club of German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen is only sixth, 17 points behind leaders Real Madrid. In the Supercup, the Catalans failed in the semi-finals.
In addition, the dispute between the club and winger Ousmane Dembélé made headlines. After Barcelona last announced the separation, the 24-year-old Frenchman accused the Catalans of “blackmail”. “We have no choice but to work and work. Now we have LaLiga and Europa League. We have to try to recover quickly,” said Xavi. “Because that’s two hard blows, two titles lost in one week.” The former professional Xavi does not believe that the unrest about the former Dortmund Dembélé had an impact on the team. “Obviously he’s an important player, but that didn’t affect us.”
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