Barcelona will be aiming to make it two wins in two games in La Liga under new manager Hansi Flick when they take on Athletic Club in Montjuic.
The Catalans go into the game without some important players like Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Gavi, and more recently Andreas Christensen, who suffered a training injury this week and is set to be out for two months.
However, at the same time, Athletic Club also arrive without one of their key players for tonight’s game.
No Unai Simon
Indeed, Athletic Club will lock horns with Barcelona at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys with their first-choice goalkeeper and key player Unai Simon.
The Spanish international misses out for the Basque club as he has been sidelined with a wrist injury.
Unai Simon unavailable for Athletic Club. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Simon, 27, was part of the Spain squad that won the UEFA Euro 2024 this summer but is expected to be out for three more months.
This is because he had to undergo surgery on his right wrist after he suffered a torn ligament between the scaphoid and lunate bone.
The Spaniard had been treating the injury with injections but opted to go under the knife soon after the Euros in July at which point it was reported that he would be out for four months.
Julen Aguirrebala returns
Last week, in their opening La Liga game against Getafe, Athletic Club had to make to do without their second-choice goalkeeper Julen Aguirrebala as well, as he was out with a fracture.
As such, Ernesto Valverde had to count on 20-year-old Alex Padilla on the night with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.
But for tonight’s clash against Barcelona, Los Leones have recovered Aguirrebala, who was the starting goalkeeper for the Basque club in their Copa del Rey-winning campaign last season.
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/injury-news-nico-williams-led-athletic-club-miss-key-player-against-barcelona/
Author : Michel Durant
Publish date : 2024-08-24 06:50:00
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