Having expressed concern over discomfort in his right adductor muscle ahead of the game against Sevilla, Eric Garcia has been out of action for the past two weeks missing not only the Champions League match against Bayern but also the Clasico.
All hopes of the 23-year-old returning in time for the Derby tomorrow have been in vain as despite his rejoining group training earlier this week he has not made a full recovery deeming him unfit for the clash between league rivals as confirmed by the club.
When asked on Saturday, Hansi Flick stated, “I think he will return after the national team break. He had problems and we had to decide that he should train outside the group” This leads us to believe the situation is perhaps more dire than initially thought.
What comes next?
Ruled out of the Blaugrane’s upcoming meetings with Red Star Belgrade and Real Sociedad, the midfielder will spend the next three weeks in the culé infirmary, working towards receiving the green light and returning to the pitch.
These are pivotal times for Barcelona and one would assume that no player would want to pass on the opportunity of bringing further glory to their team and adding their name to a list of world-class footballers playing under the red and blue banner during the reemergence period of the Catalan Giants.
This injury for Garcia comes at an opportune time for the Blaugranes as it coincides with the return of Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez who are beyond capable as was proven this past month. The timing, however, may not be so opportune for Garcia himself who will return to a squad equipped with serious competition for the starting midfield role.
Suffering from success, Flick will be forced to make some difficult calls in the midfield region when Garcia returns to the squad.
