FC Barcelona's tough defeat against Sevilla (4-1) set off many alarms in the Barça team. The image given in the first half was quite poor and, in the second half, when it was time to go all out to look for the comeback, the team was once again physically below its usual level.
Especially because, on the bench, several key players were missing to give depth and stability to Hansi Flick's plan. In that sense, looking ahead to the match against Girona, the first after the second break of the season, Barça hopes to recover three of the six players who occupy the culé infirmary: Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Fermín López.
Raphinha and Fermín will return to training normally in the coming days
The Brazilian suffered an injury to his right femoral biceps after the visit to Oviedo, and his time off was estimated at three weeks. This period will be completed on Friday, October 17, just before the Barça-Girona match on matchday 9 of La Liga.
In that sense, '11' would arrive just in time for the Catalan derby and, probably, as a substitute. If his progress is not positive during the break, the most sensible thing to do would be to wait for the Champions League match against Olympiacos (Tuesday 21st) to see if Rafa is fit to play or not.
Much more feasible is the return of Fermín. The player from Huelva injured his left iliopsoas muscle against Getafe and also has three weeks of rest. However, the player from Huelva is already training at the Ciutat Esportiva and would have no problem receiving medical discharge next week.
Reserved prognosis with Lamine Yamal
The outlook is much more uncertain with Lamine Yamal. The '10' relapsed from his discomfort in the pubis after the defeat against Paris Saint-Germain (1-2) and his time off has not been specified by the club.
In principle, the player from Mataró could be out for three to four weeks, which means he wouldn't even be ready for the first Clásico of the season against Real Madrid on October 26. However, the recovery time could be reduced to just two weeks if he progresses well during the rest days he will have during the second break of the 25/26 season.
Lamine was removed from the Spain squad once the relapse of the pubalgia was confirmed, which had already sidelined him in 5 official Barça matches in the 25/26 season. The 'culés', until before the visit to Seville, had not suffered from his absence, adding 4 consecutive victories between La Liga and the Champions League.
Barcelona's Schedule After the October Break
- Saturday, October 18, 16:15 CEST: Barça vs Girona. LaLiga, matchday 9.
- Tuesday, October 21, 21:00 CEST: Barça vs Olympiacos. Champions League, matchday 2.
- Sunday, October 26, 16:15 CEST: Real Madrid vs Barça. LaLiga, matchday 10.
- Sunday, November 2, 18:30 CEST: Barça vs Elche. LaLiga, matchday 11.
- Wednesday, November 5, 21:00 CEST: Bruges vs Barça. Champions League, matchday 3.
- Sunday, November 9 (to be defined): Celta vs Barça. LaLiga, matchday 12.