Barcelona are set to be without Frenkie de Jong for up to six weeks as a result of the ankle injury the Dutch midfielder suffered in the first half of Saturday’s 3-2 win over Celta Vigo.
De Jong’s importance to Xavi’s Barca has been further underlined again so far this season, with the club having previously agreed a deal to sell him to Manchester United in the summer of 2022 and started the last campaign initially out of favour – he has maintained he never wanted to leave.
But the former Ajax star had played every minute of Barca’s opening five La Liga fixtures of 2023/24, including one as a makeshift centre-back in a back three system. He again started against Celta, only to be forced off 36 minutes into the contest.
The club have confirmed the nature of the injury – tibiofibular syndesmosis of the right ankle, in other words, a sprain. Treatment is an initial period of rest, following by building workload back up. Barca have not offered a timeframe for De Jong’s return, but reports suggest he won’t be back on the pitch before the start of November. A best case scenario could be after the October international break.
All kick-off times are BST
Barcelona’s very next game is away against island side Mallorca, who are hovering just above the relegation zone after a poor start to the season. They were beaten 5-3 by surprise package Girona over the weekend, making it a Catalan one-two in La Liga’s standings.
Mallorca midfielder Sergi Darder claims he rejected an offer from Barcelona in the summer.
Few would have expected Sevilla to be near the foot of the table, but the Europa League holders are just starting to wake up following a disastrous start.
Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinha all scored in a 3-0 Barcelona the last time Sevilla visited.
Barcelona started their Champions League campaign with a 5-0 win over Royal Antwerp, but will expect a much tougher test against a vastly more seasoned Porto side.
Porto won 3-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk on neutral soil in Germany on matchday one, with all four goals scored inside the opening 29 minutes. They are also flying in Portugal’s Primeira Liga.
With or without De Jong, Barcelona will still expect to win against a newly promoted Granada side that is finding it tough to readjust to La Liga.
After six games of the season have been played, they have lost a league-high five times and conceded more goals (17) than anyone else.
If De Jong is fit enough to return after the international break in October, this game against Athletic Club at the Lluis Companys could theoretically be an option for him.
But Barca fans shouldn’t necessarily bank on seeing De Jong sooner than November.
Shakhtar Donetsk will be visitors to Barca’s temporary home in Montjuic before the end of October for Champions League matchday three.
In six previous meetings in UEFA competitions, Barca have won four times and lost twice. But this will be a first game between them since the 2010/11 Champions League quarter-finals.
If De Jong is out of action until November as predicted, he will also miss the first La Liga Clasico of the season against Real Madrid. Barca won the pre-season iteration 3-0 back in July.
Barca are set to wear a special one-off shirt for this game that will feature the logo of iconic British band The Rolling Stones as part of the club’s Spotify partnership.
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