Frenkie de Jong has been one in every of Barcelona‘s most notable absentees over latest weeks, forcing coach Hansi Flick to lean closely on his youthful midfield choices. With the UEFA Champions League Spherical of 16 now simply across the nook, De Jong will stay sidelined, as his restoration timeline has now been confirmed.
The problem dates again to late February, when De Jong was compelled to chop quick a Barcelona coaching session with what was later confirmed to be a pressure of the distal hamstring in his proper leg. Concern rapidly mounted over how lengthy the Dutch midfielder can be out, with the damage depend now standing at three matches missed: Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and final weekend’s conflict with Athletic Membership.
Chatting with ESPN, Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman addressed De Jong’s state of affairs and offered a clearer image of when he will be anticipated again. “Frenkie de Jong might be out for roughly six weeks. Generally I believe it is likely to be good for somebody to be out for six weeks in order that they get much less drained,” mentioned Koeman, successfully ruling him out of the upcoming March worldwide window squad.
With a restoration timeline pointing to early April, De Jong will miss not solely Barcelona’s Champions League Spherical of 16 sequence towards Newcastle United but in addition the Netherlands’ March friendlies towards Norway on the twenty seventh and Ecuador on the thirty first. “Even so, now we have to attend for him to regain his health as soon as he returns,” he added.
Frenkie de Jong of FC Barcelona is challenged by Benat Turrientes of Actual Sociedad.
With Pedri again from his personal muscle damage, Flick has been experimenting with methods to cowl De Jong’s position, with Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal competing for the place. Between the primary leg at St. James’ Park on March 10 and the second leg on the Camp Nou on the 18th, the German coach must navigate a crucial stretch of the season with out one of many membership’s key figures and captains.
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De Jong not the one key absence towards Newcastle United
De Jong has been a pivotal contributor this season with 31 appearances, one aim and 7 assists, however it’s value noting that Barcelona have received all 10 matches during which he has been absent, suggesting the squad has proven it may possibly cope with out him. Even so, he is only one piece of a a lot bigger damage puzzle heading into the Newcastle tie.
The latest and vital blows got here within the Copa del Rey semifinal towards Atlético Madrid, the place each Jules Koundé and Alejandro Baldé have been compelled off. Koundé suffered an damage to the center third of the biceps femoris in his left thigh and is predicted to overlook a number of weeks.
In Baldé’s case, the left again sustained a distal biceps femoris damage in his left thigh, with a restoration timeline of roughly 4 weeks. Andreas Christensen, in the meantime, stays unavailable and isn’t anticipated to characteristic once more till subsequent season. The most important wildcard is Gavi, who has lately returned to coaching after tearing the inner meniscus of his proper knee in late September, however whether or not he might be match sufficient to characteristic towards Newcastle stays very a lot within the air.
