The international break in September brought with it a host of problems for FC Barcelona as a number of their players picked up injuries while away with their national teams.
Indeed, Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Memphis Depay, and Frenkie de Jong all returned with injuries while Ousmane Dembele had also felt some discomfort while in the France camp and was not risked.
Around the same time, other players like Andreas Christensen, Sergi Roberto, and Eric Garcia picked up injuries while playing for the club. Pablo Torre and Franck Kessie also sustained injuries during the club’s UEFA Champions League clash against Viktoria Plzen in November.
However, fortunately for the Blaugrana, there have been no such injury problems for any of their players following the FIFA World Cup 2022.
As many as 17 Barcelona first-team players had travelled to the World Cup in Qatar and all but two – finalists Dembele and Kounde – have returned to training. And, there have been no fresh injury issues to report, with Xavi having a full complement of players ahead of the restart of the season.
Indeed, according to SPORT, the Barcelona infirmary is fully empty ahead of the upcoming match against RCD Espanyol. now that Ronald Araujo is set to receive his medical discharge imminently.
The Uruguayan defender had picked up a thigh injury while on international duty in September and needed to undergo surgery for the same. While he travelled to the World Cup with the South American nation, he did not play any minutes and continued to work on his recovery.
Earlier this week, Araujo returned to group training with Barcelona and is now set to be given a green light by the medical department.
Sergi Roberto has fully recovered from his dislocated shoulder and the midfield duo of Franck Kessie and Pablo Torre have also received their medical discharges from the club.
And with Araujo’s impending clearance, the Blaugrana will have a clean bill of health heading into the derby against Espanyol.
While Xavi may have no injury concerns to deal with, the manager will be unable to call upon star striker Robert Lewandowski, who is suspended for three league matches.
