Jules Kounde injury: Progress & potential return date for Barcelona defender

Prior to Barcelona’s trip to the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on the eve of the October international break, Jules Kounde had not let a single opposition player dribble past him this season.

Granada’s Bryan Zaragoza soon sullied that record while scoring his second goal of the night within the opening half-hour. After beating the fleet-footed Kounde in a footrace, Zaragoza left the Frenchman with twisted blood, chopping right and then back onto himself with a vicious swerve of the hips that left his opponent in a heap on the turf.

Kounde’s participation in the match ended with the centre-back beating the same surface in frustration. Zaragoza’s wriggling didn’t help Kounde’s condition but he crumpled to the floor with an injury 15 minutes after getting turned inside out.

Here’s the latest fitness news concerning Kounde’s return.

The day after Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Granada, Barcelona revealed that Kounde had suffered an “MCL sprain” in his left knee.

While far less severe than the dreaded ACL injury, Kounde is facing a minimum of three weeks on the sidelines, with early reports in Spain pointing towards a month-long layoff.

Even if Kounde is only out for 21 days, he would still be highly likely to miss Barcelona’s seismic clash with arch-rivals Real Madrid on 28 October. Last season’s top scorer Robert Lewandowski is also a major doubt for the first Clasico of the season after sustaining an ankle injury at the start of October.

Kounde was swiftly withdrawn from the French squad for October’s international fixtures – Chelsea’s Axel Disasi replaced him. The versatile defender is also expected to miss Barcelona’s first two games after the brief hiatus; Athletic Club visit the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic on 22 September before a Champions League group-stage clash against Shakhtar Donetsk on the same ground three days later.

If Kounde fails to return for El Clasico he could be back in time for Barcelona’s trip to San Sebastian on 4 November when they take on Imanol Alguacil’s Real Sociedad.

During his three years at Sevilla, Kounde didn’t miss a single match through injury, only sitting out a trio of games after contracting coronavirus. At the start of his debut campaign in Barcelona, Kounde wasn’t even registered for the first two games of the season while the club fiddled with their finances. Issues with his Achilles and hamstring punctuated a slow introduction to life in Catalonia but Kounde became a fixture of Xavi’s La Liga champions after the World Cup.

Kounde started 21 of the club’s final 23 league matches, overseeing 15 clean sheets in that sequence.

Kounde was not the only Barcelona player to struggle against Granada’s Bryan Zaragoza. At one point Ronald Araujo, the man who came on for Kounde in the first half, sidled up to the 22-year-old and panted: “Do you want to stop running, you bastard?”

Few in La Liga have been able to match Araujo in a race in recent years, but Vinicius Junior’s kryptonite has lost his starting spot at centre-back since pulling up with an injury of his own after the opening weekend of the season.

Andreas Christensen has been Kounde’s most common partner at the back this year. The Dane can operate on either side of the central pairing, ensuring that Xavi could just as easily introduce the left-footed Inigo Martinez to defence if he is so inclined.

Martinez has been afforded one start – and conceded two goals – since his move from Athletic Club in the summer. Xavi could alternatively turn to Marcos Alonso if he wanted a player more familiar with Barcelona’s system.

The natural wide man who was deemed too attacking to play anywhere deeper than wing-back at Chelsea has moonlighted at centre-back under Xavi, making 25 appearances in that role last season.

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