Barcelona’s injury woes mount as stopper limps out of Granada clash

Barcelona’s injury woes mount as Balde limps out of Granada clash Barcelona’s injury woes mount as Balde limps out of Granada clash

By Conor Laird

Published: September 20, 2021 9:04 pm

Last Updated: September 20, 2021 9:08 pm

Barcelona’s injury woes mount as stopper limps out of Granada clash

The concerning personnel situation facing FC Barcelona has continued to worsen on Monday, amid the club’s meeting with Granada.

Duarte on target

Ronald Koeman’s men are currently locked in action at the Camp Nou.

The Blaugrana welcomed minnows Granada to Catalunya for the final fixture of the La Liga weekend, aiming for an immediate bounce-back following a concerning defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich last time out.

As things stand, however, Barca’s woes only look set to deepen.

This comes with the hosts currently trailing by a goal to nil, courtesy of a Domingos Duarte header.

With just two minutes on the clock at the Camp Nou, Sergio Escudero’s fine delivery across the face of goal was nodded home at the back post by Duarte, adding further to an already tense atmosphere:

The worst possible start for Barca! 😬

Whistles ring out around the Camp Nou as Domingos Duarte puts Granada ahead after just 85 seconds 😱 pic.twitter.com/4FvF88baXJ

— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) September 20, 2021

Balde forced off

And, as outlined above, the current scoreline represents far from Barca’s only concern on the back of the opening 45 minutes on Monday evening.

The hosts have also been dealt a blow on the personnel front.

With the likes of Pedri, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati and Jordi Alba already on the sidelines, youngster Alejandro Balde was utlilised from the off versus Granada, on the left of Ronald Koeman’s back-4.

Shortly before the interval, however, Balde was too forced to limp off, after picking up what appeared to be a back problem.

Mingueza comes on for Alejandro Balde who seemed to be playing through a back problem for most of the first half sadly.

— TalkFCB © (@talkfcb_) September 20, 2021

The blow could not have come at a much worse time for the 18-year-old on a personal level, with the home crowd in attendance at the Camp Nou having actually been belting out Balde’s name just minutes before his eventual departure from proceedings.